


Two Worlds, One Arc-nomaly

by SomeRandomShittyRambler



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, RWBY
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Fluff and Crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28040490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeRandomShittyRambler/pseuds/SomeRandomShittyRambler
Summary: As Beacon burned, and Cinder stood triumphant at the top of the tower, a hero prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop her. Then Jaune pushed Pyrrha into an empty rocket locker and sent her away while he took her place. As he lay dying, though, a silver light engulfed him. Then, he woke up in a world without Cinder. Unfortunately, there was still a very angry dragon. Cross-posted from Fanfiction.net.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 19





	1. The Overly-Dramatic Prologue

The world was ending, and Jaune Arc was terrified.

To be fair, though, Jaune Arc was often terrified.

Just in the past year alone, he'd been terrified when he'd submitted fake transcripts to Beacon. He'd been terrified when he'd stolen the family sword, run away from home, and hopped on a civilian Bullhead heading to Vale. He'd been terrified when he'd been launched off a cliff and into a Grimm-infested forest. He'd been terrified when a javelin had suddenly speared him to a tree mid-flight. He'd been terrified when he'd been chased out of a cave by a _very_ large and _very_ angry Deathstalker. He'd been terrified when he'd had to fight said Deathstalker. He'd been terrified when he'd been made leader of a team of teenagers, all clearly stronger, more experienced, and _qualified_ than he to even be in Beacon, let alone _Team Leader_. He'd been terrified when he'd been called upon in any class, let alone Goodwitch's Combat Class. He'd been terrified confessing to Pyrrha that he'd been a fraud. He'd been terrified when Cardin had found out, and held it over him. He'd been terrified when he'd stood up to Cardin in Forever Fall. He'd been terrified when he'd stood up to an Ursa Major to save Cardin's life. He'd been terrified when someone had spilled a drink on Yang's hair. He'd been terrified when Nora had gotten hold of coffee. He'd been terrified when he'd received a call from his best friend in the middle of the night, while she'd been on a mission to Mountain Glenn. He'd been terrified when the Breach had occurred. He'd been terrified competing in the Vytal Festival, his first publicly-broadcasted tournament. He'd been terrified when he'd found his valued partner in a corner, depressed and philosophical, in the middle of the festival. He'd been terrified when she'd fought Penny, used too much force, and the White Fang leader Adam had suddenly hijacked the broadcast. He'd been terrified when the White Fang and the Grimm had suddenly attacked Amity Colosseum (and especially when the damned Wyvern had suddenly burst out of the mountain). He'd been terrified when he'd seen Headmaster Ozpin lead Pyrrha away without a word, halfway through the Battle of Beacon. He'd been terrified when Pyrrha, clearly scared and apprehensive herself, had stepped into a pod, linked to another pod with a comatose and injured woman within. He'd been terrified when they'd been interrupted by a red-dressed ravenette who'd shot the comatose woman in the chest, before doing a "Yang Xiao-Long" (i.e. bursting into flames and blowing him away with a single hit. At least she hadn't made any puns, thank Oum for small mercies).

Seeing as how the Headmaster had stayed back to fight her, ordering them to call for reinforcements as "the tower cannot fall", and they'd ascended from the Tower to find Beacon completely deserted, the Grimm Dragon out of sight but audibly circling overhead, Bullheads leaving Beacon in distance, and _he still had no idea what was going on_ , Jaune felt that his sense of terror was even more justified than it normally was.

Still, though, if there was a state of mind Jaune Arc was used to, it was being terrified and in _way_ over his head, and he'd spent the past few months learning how to operate under such conditions. Slowing down once they'd made it what they felt was a safe enough distance from the underground vault (what was the minimum safe distance between one and a person slinging fireballs with enough force to hold off a Huntsman Academy's Headmaster, especially considering one's Aura has been depleted from constant battling for the past hour or two? He'd never been any good at math!), he quickly tried to catch his breath (Pyr still wasn't even winded, and she'd carried him halfway up!) as his mind quickly analyzed the situation (rumbling in the distance; fighting still occurring? Abandoned open rocket locker; possible supply or escape craft) and ran through a checklist he'd seen on a scroll with Ruby during one of their Team Leader Study Sessions.

 _Survive_? Barring Coma Lady (and maybe the Headmaster, though the Headmaster was definitely strong and Jaune had hope for him), check.

 _Evade_? Eh, close enough.

 _Resist_?

Alright, time for the next step. Who would he call for help, though? Ren and Nora? Team RWBY? If even his partner had been told to run, he doubted any of them would be able to help the Headmaster. The teachers, then? Headmaster Ozpin had said to get Ms. Goodwitch or General Ironwood...

Pulling out his scroll, he tried to reassure Pyrrha while finding Ms. Goodwitch's number, but even if they hadn't been partners for over a semester now he'd have easily been able to tell her mind was still focused back on the Tower. He knew he wouldn't be able to put the topic off any longer; he needed to know what was going on, if only so he could actually plan around things (even if an abandoned Grimm-infested school probably wasn't the best time or place for it). Turning to his partner, he tried to steady his voice as he asked: "Pyrrha... what was all of that?"

Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to get out more than a single syllable before a strong quake turned them around, just in time to see the ravenette rocketing up the Tower's elevator shaft. Terror turned to horror in his heart, and he murmured: "But... Ozpin..."

He didn't want to believe it, but he couldn't deny it. He'd known that being a Huntsman meant risking your life to protect others, but to see it first-hand was a whole other matter. Where his face fell, though, and he silently mourned the Headmaster, he noticed his stalwart and trusty partner's face harden. He knew that look; it was the same look she got when he told her she couldn't have any more chocolate. His fears were confirmed when she turned to him, and with a determined voice ordered: "There's no time. Go. Get to Vale and call for help."

"Pyrrha..." Jaune didn't need to hear the edge in her voice, see the way she looked back to the Tower, to know she planned on going back.

Going to fight that _monster_.

Going to her death.

He knew she wouldn't back down. He _knew_ his partner. Kind, caring, selfless to a fault, and stubborn as an Ursa. Arguing would be a waste of time and breath for both of them. Defiance would result in his overprotective partner doing something drastic. Instead, he mentally measured out distances ( _6 paces behind_ ), and did the last thing she expected.

He stepped forward and as he saw her tense up, ready to drastically intervene, he embraced her, enveloping her in his arms as he spun around. He felt her stiffen in surprise, and almost swore he heard his invincible partner actually squeak, before she relaxed, melting in the comfort of her trusty partner's arms. He saw her look up at him, face flushed with embarrassment at their sudden contact, but her eyes had momentarily lost their steely glint. There was his opportunity, and he released his hug, before gripping her shoulders, and leaned down to whisper in her ear: "I'm trusting you to call for help, Pyr."

Confusion overtook her features as he pushed hard, and she stumbled backwards before her back hit metal. He didn't give her time to protest or question him before he shut the rocket locker's door, and quickly keyed the rocket locker to home in on Ruby's scroll signal. Through the slits of the rocket locker he saw her eyes widen in realization, and the narrow in anger as her hand clenched into a fist. A black glow began to visibly manifest around the locker and his armour and she shouted: "Jaune-"

Jaune didn't give Pyrrha the chance to use her Semblance, instead punching the launch button with a quiet: "I'm sorry."

And then she was gone, the black glow dissipating. He knew from first-hand experience that, safe as rocket locker travel may have technically been, it was also a particularly bumpy one, and Pyrrha's Semblance required concentration. He watched as the rocket locker took his partner to the safety of the second-best team in Beacon, before the reality of what he'd done hit him, and he felt like collapsing.

 _Escape_? Close enough; Remnant needed Huntresses like Pyrrha more than a fraud like him anyway.

Clenching his fist around his sheathed sword, he turned back to the Tower, where _she_ was. For a moment, he was tempted to make a break for it, to just run away. It was crazy, after all! She'd killed _Ozpin_! Even Pyrrha wouldn't have stood a chance, let alone him, and he didn't even know what was so important about the Tower anyway.

But Headmaster Ozpin said the Tower could not fall, and he trusted the Headmaster. And they _had_ to stall Cinder here, in the abandoned Tower where they knew she was; if she got out, got to the Bullheads evacuating the school, or the city...

He knew he couldn't _beat_ her... but he didn't need to. He just needed to resist, to hold out until Pyrrha got Ms. Goodwitch or General Ironwood to the Tower, and then he'd be fine. Just fine. Maybe a little bit _well done_ , but he'd be fine. And hey... he'd wanted to protect others, to be a _hero_ , right? And wasn't this what heroes did? Fight insurmountable odds for the sake of others? He'd known, even as a kid listening to his parents' bedtime stories, that not all heroes lived to see the happy ending they fought for...

... but he'd already accepted the risks when he'd run away to join Beacon. It just felt so surreal, though, accepting his mortality. It'd been different with Cardin and the Breach; this felt more certain, more final.

And still he ran into the Clock Tower, trying to remember where the maintenance access corridors were.

After all, the lift was out of order, on account of the human-shaped hole.

**-BEACON EVACUATION ZONE PERIMETER, 2 MINUTES LATER-**

Ruby's breathing may have been steady as she and Weiss sprinted towards Beacon, but her heart and mind were anything but calm.

Ruby had been supposed to join Beacon because she'd been cool and awesome in fighting Torchwick, and then she was supposed to have a great team with new friends and her sister, and they'd all bond over weapons and cookies! And sure, she'd accomplished all of that (barring some... "hiccups"), and even found a dorky best friend that hadn't been stolen away from her by Yang! But everything else after that? The Vytal Festival? _This_?!

 _This_ wasn't supposed to be how things would go!

Yang was a brutal fighter, sure, but she'd never break a defeated opponent's legs! And Pyrrha... Penny...

She blinked back the tears threatening to form in her silver eyes as she remembered the rest of the day.

Penny, dismembered.

The White Fang.

The Grimm attack at Amity.

Atlas' airships and robots, firing on civilians.

Roman Torchwick, unceremoniously eaten by a Griffon.

Coming back to Beacon to find Yang, bleeding out, missing an arm, Blake stabbed, Ren and Nora, exhausted and wounded, and Jaune and Pyrrha nowhere to be seen.

Not for the first time, Ruby felt a sense of helplessness creep up on her, but she squashed it back down. There'd be time for doubt later; for now, she had to find her two close friends. She hadn't been able to save Penny or Roman. She hadn't been there for Yang or Mom. There was no way she was going to lose a good friend with a cool weapon who ignored her young age, and there definitely was no way she was going to lose her first friend in Beacon! She owed way too much to Vomit Boy, after all, from how he'd been there to pick her up on their very first day to his support when she'd been doubting being a team leader, to how he and his team had helped her during the Breach! And he'd promised to make cookies for her someday which they'd share while reading X-Ray and Vav Comics! And an Arc never went back on his word!

The sound of a rocket locker's engines snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked up in surprise. She hadn't thought there'd been anyone left who _didn't_ have their weapons yet, and she paused and stared at it a bit longer.

Then she realized it was getting closer and aimed straight at her, and she quickly jumped out of the way as it slammed into the ground. Weiss moved next to her and stared at the crashed rocket locker, before asking: "Uh, Ruby? Did you call for that?"

"No, did you?"

Before Weiss could answer back, a familiar black glow began surrounding the rocket locker, before it violently burst open with a roaring sound that sent them diving to the ground with a ferocious war cry (and definitely not squeaks of "Eep!"). Looking back up revealed a familiar bronze-armoured champion.

Ruby was too relieved to care about the anger radiating off of her, and zipped towards Pyrrha, hugging her with a "Pyrrha! You're okay!"

"Wha- Ruby?!" Pyrrha stammered out in confusion as she finally realized where she was, and she spent half a second soothingly rubbing the Red Reaper's back before she remembered just exactly _how_ she'd been sent here. Weiss backed up when she noticed the very uncharacteristic anger and worry return to Pyrrha's face, but before she could say anything Ruby looked around, and thoughtlessly asked: "Hey, where's Jaune?"

Weiss winced as the remains of the rocket locker began crumpling like tissue paper, but what finally set off Ruby's mental alarms was the sheer amount of indignant fury in Pyrrha's voice as she snarled out her partner's name like a Beowolf: " _Jaune_!"

They'd _never_ heard her talk about Jaune with anything more than concern, worry, resignation and _way_ more gentle affection than was usual for most partners. So it was perhaps understandable that the novel string of Mistralian curse words ("Uh, Weiss... have you ever heard Pyrrha _swear_ before?" "Drat, looks like I owe Yang 20 lien.") and promises of pain to her partner that followed had them nervously backing up, before the anger suddenly drained from her face like a switch had been flicked. Instead, she looked back towards Beacon, where she'd been launched from, a forlorn look on her face.

Ruby felt her heart fall, but she still used the lull in Pyrrha's rant to ask through a rapidly-constricting throat: "Pyrrha... is Jaune..."

"No!" Pyrrha yelled in response, before her voice softened, and she softly murmured: "No, Jaune's not dead... he's the one who pushed me into the locker and sent me away."

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief, but Weiss noticed what was left unsaid. She may not have been fond of Jaune's (former) constant attempts at asking her out, but she considered him a good friend for how he'd set Neptune straight at the dance (and how he'd _stopped_ asking her out every other day), and it was with a quiet voice that she asked: "Pyrrha, what happened? Where's Jaune?"

"There's no time." Pyrrha declared as she gripped her weapon and stormed her way back towards Beacon, but before she could make it two steps Ruby zipped in front of her, and asked: "Pyrrha... what's going on?"

"... someone killed Ozpin." Pyrrha finally said, gently but firmly pushing past Ruby, and as she continued back towards Beacon her pent-up frustrations began to spill out: "Jaune and I were... we were doing something for Ozpin, but then the leader of Team CMEN suddenly interrupted, shot a woman with a glass arrow. Ozpin told us to call for help while he held her off, but... and then Jaune! He stayed behind! He pushed me into the rocket locker and sent me off while he stayed behind to try and stop her by himself!"

Glass... glass... the CCT! The robbery! Ruby Rose never forgot a weapon, after all. She still didn't want to believe it, though, and even as they ran after Pyrrha her voice shook as she asked: "Cinder killed Ozpin? How? And Jaune's going to fight her?! Wait, where are you going?!"

"She's... she's got weird fire magic now. Flames, fireballs, and flight."

"What."

"Fire... magic?"

"And I'm going back for him. Don't try to stop me."

"We weren't going to. We're coming _with_ you. Right, Weiss?" Pyrrha looked back at Ruby's words, noted the seriousness, the determination on the young girl's face. Behind her, Weiss simply cycled Myrtenaster's chamber and nodded back. She managed a small smile for the Reaper and the Heiress, and they began running back to the clock tower.

**-OZPIN'S OFFICE, 5 MINUTES AGO-**

Not for the first time in his life, someone thought Jaune Arc was a complete and utter nobody.

To be fair, he _was_ the weakest student in Beacon, and that was before one considered Team JNPR consisted of the Invincible Girl, _Nora Valkyrie_ , and the only man who could calm Nora Valkyrie down, and that they could often be found with the strongest first-year team, Team RWBY, as well as the strongest second-year team, Team CFVY.

So, being completely overlooked by someone? Completely reasonable and understandable (and something he'd been used to, growing up with seven older sisters and all).

Also, she'd killed Ozpin, so her lack of approval didn't really hurt anyway.

For the first time in his life, though, Jaune Arc was _happy_ that she didn't consider him _anybody_. That she didn't even consider him a _threat_.

After all, he was just playing for time until whoever Pyrrha called could come and save him, and if the homicidal lady wanted to spend a good minute or two staring at him in disbelief before laughing when he'd come through the maintenance access, panting for breath, well who was he to stop her?

... okay, it had started to grate a _little_ bit after the second minute...

His knuckles had also turned white from clenching his sword as she'd scoffed at him, taunted him, monologued about how she'd made plans to deal with all of Ozpin's pawns, from Pyrrha to Glynda and even Team RWBY... but she'd never bothered making one for _him_.

That was a good thing, after all. That meant she hadn't noticed that his pocket was emptier than normal; he'd left his scroll by the doorway when he'd hunched over, recording their encounter. If... if things didn't go according to his vague unformed plans... hopefully his death wouldn't have been in vain.

She also didn't notice anything weird about the vial of emergency maintenance Dust supplies he'd swiped from the janitor's closet. Sure, half a year or so of Dust Studies had done precisely nothing in teaching him how to actually _use_ Dust, but if Ruby could set off an explosion by sneezing, he was sure he could figure _something_ out.

He'd have liked to call the battle that followed an epic last stand, where he tapped into unknown reserves of strength and power, and put her on the backfoot.

However, since he'd been recording the whole thing, he couldn't.

Instead, she'd merely tried hosing his position down with flames and tossed fireballs at him while he'd desperately blocked and dodged whatever he could, not for the first time thankful for his large Aura reserves and the training Pyrrha'd put him through. When he'd finally tried her patience by refusing to die (and when he'd mentioned that "Pyrrha's faster."), she'd suddenly drawn two black glass swords, and jumped at him with ferocious swings and furious swipes.

Where Pyrrha would have just danced out of range, performing feats of acrobatics that made his spine and pelvis wince sympathetically, Jaune was barely able to stumble back, shield raised, sword flailing about in a desperate attempt at blocking or parrying the many hits that made it past his shield.

But still, even as his back hit the wall, faster than him as she may have been, stronger than him as she may have been, vastly more skilled than him as she may have been... he'd been trained by the best. He saw her eyes flash in satisfaction as she wound up for a heavy blow, meant to take him out of the fight in a single hit...

... only to get a vial full of Dust to her face.

She was more than quick enough to intercept it, granted, but in doing so she shattered the vial and set off the Dust stored within. Jaune hadn't known enough about Dust to identify what kind of Dust it was, but from the arcs of electricity that had suddenly shot out at her face, he felt confident in assuming it had been Lightning Dust. He also considered himself very lucky that none of the lightning hit him; lightning plus metal armour would equal one very unpleasant experience. More importantly, though, he finally had an opening... well, an opening even _he_ could actually take advantage of. With a high-pitched desperate roar he charged forward and swung his sword in an upwards arc.

She caught his sword bare-handed, murder in her glowing bloodshot eyes, before sending him flying back into the wall with a gout of flames. He got back up as quickly as he could, ignoring the aches, bruises, burns, and pains, in time to see her snap his sword in half before tossing it away. She looked back at him, and declared: "Enough! You are beneath me, and I shall not waste my time and energy on you any longer! I'll just let _her_ deal with you now."

A loud screech had him take his eyes off of the ravenette, and he looked out of the window, just in time to see the Grimm Dragon fly towards him from another tower. He had just enough time to dive for cover under Ozpin's desk before it hit the tower, sending dust and debris flying everywhere.

Cinder looked at the destruction with a sense of satisfaction, tempered with anger at the fact that _Jaune Arc_ , some random nobody with next-to-zero combat experience or training, had actually managed to waste some of her time. She'd come up here expecting the Invincible Girl to follow, at the very least, or the Good Witch. An actual challenge whom she could wield the full extent of her new Maiden powers against! At least he was dead, tho-

The elevator dinged, distracting her momentarily.

Cinder turned around to see a familiar spear fly towards her face, which she handily dodged, followed by a circular shield, which she blocked, and a very angry champion, who landed on her shield, pressing against Cinder. A heavy impact against her stomach made her double over slightly, weakening her stance, and Cinder was kicked into a pillar by Pyrrha, who backflipped off of her shield and back towards Ruby and Weiss. The Grimm Dragon roared at the new arrivals, but a wave of frost made it back up cautiously.

Pyrrha and Ruby, meanwhile, hurriedly scanned the room for any sign of Jaune. Any sign that their best friend was still alive. All they found, however, was a broken sword and his scroll on the floor. Something inside Pyrrha snapped, and even as Ruby zipped to Jaune's broken sword, staring at it, praying that her eyes were deceiving her, Pyrrha screamed, and all the metal debris throughout the room began levitating with a dark glow. Cinder had barely enough time to recover from being kicked into a pillar before she began quickly deflecting all the metal flying at her.

The Grimm Dragon, meanwhile, decided that the Ice Dust wasn't a very significant threat, and began advancing on Weiss, who called for Ruby to snap out of it and help her kill the darned thing. She couldn't focus on anything besides the broken sword in her hand, though. Indescribable but familiar feelings began roiling within her chest, and a burning sensation began to build up behind her eyes...

As the Grimm Dragon stomped upon a pile of rubble, however, a bright light suddenly shone from within it, and the rocks under the Grimm's wing (and the Grimm's wing) suddenly flew upwards, all the force applied downwards suddenly being reversed. Even as the Grimm Dragon squawked in surprise as it was thrown off balance, a coughing sound could be heard, and a familiar blonde emerged from the remains of a broken desk, bruised, battered, very much beaten, but still alive.

" _You_."

"Arc?!"

"Jaune?!"

"Jaune!"

Jaune was too busy clearing his lungs to pay much attention to his surroundings, but he still _tried_ to analyze the situation. He'd been knocked out for a minute or two when the roof had collapsed, and had woken up underneath a broken desk and a ton of rocks. And then, suddenly, he'd felt an additional weight press down on him, and then his aura had glowed, like back in Forever Fall with Cardin, before everything on top of him was suddenly repulsed. Wait, was this his Semblance? Or just a side effect of his abnormally large aura? Eh, question for later. His aura was even lower than red at the moment, he could feel a sharp pain in his chest whenever he breathed as well as a dull ache in his sternum, and the fiery bitch (not Yang) was still around, albeit being backed into a corner by his partner's Semblance.

Wait, his partner?

Jaune blinked, and blinked a second time to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Oum, it seemed, had answered his prayers; Pyrrha was here, along with Ruby and Weiss, all staring at him with relief evident in their faces.

Cinder didn't miss her opportunity; she threw a fireball at a distracted Pyrrha, knocking her away easily, before sending a wave of glass shards throughout the room, trying to suppress them. Weiss threw up a wall of ice to protect herself, but Ruby hadn't noticed until it was too late. Lacking the time to concentrate on her Semblance, Ruby closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, hoping her Aura was still high enough.

5 seconds later, when the expected force and pain didn't come (and she belatedly realized her heart was still beating), Ruby slowly opened her eyes, wondering if Cinder had missed.

Jaune's unmoving body, riddled with sizzling holes in front of her, said otherwise.

"Jaune?" Ruby cautiously crawled towards her best friend, not wanting to believe it. The red liquid pooling beneath him made a squelching noise as she accidentally stepped into it, but she was too focused on him too care. Her Dork Knight, whom she'd come to save, whom she hadn't been too late to save, had dove in front of her to save _her_.

And he was gone for it. The satisfied smile on his face was the worst part. The heat behind her eyes doubled, and something within her broke as she howled.

Beneath her, Jaune struggled to speak, to reassure his first friend that he was alright, just a little cold. He heard his partner also cry out his name, and tried to turn to her, but a silver light suddenly engulfed him.

**-HELGEN, 17 LAST SEED 4E201-**

"Hey, you. You're finally awake."

Jaune blinked as he felt someone shaking him around, trying to rouse him, and woke up to find a grinning blonde bombshell staring down at him. Disoriented, drained, weak from having basically died, Jaune did the only thing he could.

He threw up on her boots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: And welcome to the shitty short story that I wrote while trying to get over my author's block, when I decided to finally watch the first 3 seasons of RWBY.
> 
> The premise of this story is a simple mix of the usual "multiversal" stories that have been around since forever, with a dash of the good old Isekai genre thrown in for fun. Another world in the multiverse, but still 1 Jaune. And before anybody asks, no, Jaune isn't the Dragonborn. This isn't the kind of story where Jaune's another world's chosen one, this is the kind of story where he's the chew toy of both worlds. And as for why I'm using Jaune? Because he's an Everyman, in way over his head because he tried to do some good and got sucked into something massive. It's the easiest thing for me to relate to.
> 
> Also, because Pyrrha deserves good things, damn it.
> 
> And no, realistically speaking, there is no way that Jaune could beat Cinder. That was a boss fight clearly designed for any and all of them to lose, after all. But I did try to bend the fight as much as possible to give Jaune the best possible odds of buying as much time as possible. It would be all but impossible for him to kill her, but he doesn't need to; he trusts Pyrrha to get help.
> 
> Feel free to drop any and all criticisms, constructive or not. I don't really mind curses, as long as they all help me to improve.


	2. The Underwhelming First Act

**-1 YEAR AFTER THE FALL-**

Not for the first time, Pyrrha sighed and looked out of the train window, wondering if following Ozpin (or should she call him Oscar?) had really been the right thing to do. Even after all they'd done for him, after they'd lost _him_ on Ozpin's orders, she couldn't help but feel that their former headmaster had still been keeping a few secrets. It was also obvious that he preferred using Team RWBY to Team NPR to carry tasks out for him; even Nora had noticed, and she had actually managed to pull herself away from her new boyfriend long enough to complain to Pyrrha about being left out when he'd brought them to fight the Grimm horde bearing down on the Relic.

But even if she didn't trust Ozpin, it was clear that Ruby did, and Ruby would've jumped into an active volcano if Ozpin had told her it was to save the world. Pyrrha felt she owed it to _him_ to at least protect his first friend, since...

At least she'd managed to avenge _him_ , though. Thank Oum for small mercies. The recording _he'd_ managed to take had given them a decent insight into Cinder's abilities and fighting style. The Fall Maiden powers within her stirred at the emotions the memories brought back, but she fought them back down, gripping the handle of the still-broken Crocea Mors tightly. It hadn't been vengeance but necessity that had forced her hand; _he_ wouldn't have wanted that. But Cinder hadn't exactly given them a chance, in Haven; she'd have speared Weiss if Pyrrha hadn't ran her through first.

The train jolted as it deployed it's brakes, and Pyrrha instinctively pressed down on her hood, making sure her distinctive long red hair wasn't revealed. That was another thing she wanted to blame Ozpin for; her status as the new Fall Maiden meant it was safer that she travel incognito. Too many people knew the Invincible Girl, after all; even if she could pass off her new powers as her Semblance, word would spread of the Invincible Girl's location, and Salem, the Grimm, and her remaining agents would be all over them like Rapier Wasps on Red Sap.

Of course, even she had to admit: she enjoyed the anonymity, forced or not; she'd gone to a whole different Kingdom just to escape her fame, after all.

Looking around, it seemed nobody noticed her, and she turned around as Ren and Nora approached her, fingers interlocked. She spared a small smile for them, a rare genuine one; it'd taken them more than long enough to finally stop dancing around their feelings.

A dull ache in her chest gave her pause, though. She couldn't deny to herself that she was slightly envious of them. Couldn't help but wonder, if he hadn't stayed behind, if he'd been less oblivious and insecure... if she'd been bold enough to actually say out loud how she'd actually felt...

Her emotions must have shown on her face, because the next thing she knew, Nora was embracing her (and not in her usual excited spine-crushing fashion, either). Ren walked up to her, placed his hand on her shoulder, and comforted her as well: "We miss him too."

"... I'm sorry..."

"We know." Nora said gently, before jumping up, and excitedly saying: "Now come on! Argus awaits! And you still haven't told me if it's beach season yet! By the way, where are we staying?"

"Yes, Nora, it's beach season." Pyrrha rolled her eyes as she answered the Valkyrie's question for the hundredth time, before playfully continuing: "And I told you, where we're staying is a secret."

"Betrayed by my own teammate!" Nora gasped, and she flew back to Ren and cried: "Ren! Pyrrha's being mean to me!"

"And here I was going to introduce you to the best pancake stall in Argus," Pyrrha slyly countered, and she could see Nora's expression turn to genuine horror as she added: "But, since I'm so mean..."

Ren merely sighed and smiled as Nora immediately began alternating between groveling and threatening Pyrrha's legs. He still remembered how cold and focused Pyrrha had been on Patch, just after Jaune had died, and how she'd thrown herself into training. The fact she was willing to smile and play along with Nora again had him relieved, though he blanched when Nora had asked him to intercede on her behalf, or make her a hundred pancakes to make up for it.

Pyrrha also smiled at their antics, even as a part of her felt wrong. It took her a second to realize that their routine had been so familiar, so reminiscent of their time in Beacon, that she'd been expecting their team leader to add his piece to their shenanigans. Fortunately, before the moment turned awkward, she spotted her mother, and quickly led her team to her.

"Oh, you must be Ren and Nora! Little Ra's told me so much about you!" The bespectacled redhead swept the bemused pair into a tight embrace, and Pyrrha fought the urge to wince at her childhood nickname. Then she got hugged as well, and barely squawked out in protest: "Mother!"

"Oh, hush, I haven't seen you in 2 years! You barely even call or write!" Pyrrha's mother lectured her pouting daughter as she released the trio, and as she led them down the road and to her mansion she continued (much to Ren and Nora's amusement): "Where did we go so wrong... you were such a sweet and polite child, and even in school you at least called every week!"

"Mother! The CCT was down!"

"Don't they have pens or paper in Vale?"

"We've been busy! And I sent a letter!"

"Yeah, _a_ letter! One! And that was just when Beacon had been-"

"Excuse me, did you say "Beacon"?" A small voice suddenly interrupted their conversation, and they turned to find a long-haired blonde carrying a little boy with her finger raised, trying to get their attention.

For some reason, the blonde's face reminded Pyrrha of someone, but she couldn't quite place it. It nagged at her, though, and alarm bells immediately began ringing in Pyrrha's head as she tensed up. Had she seen this person in Haven? Could it be one of Salem's spies? Emerald Sustrai was still unaccounted for...

Noticing her daughter's discomfort, and completely misunderstanding, Pandora Nikos quickly replied: "Yes, Saphron, we did. My daughter and her friends were students at Beacon. But it's a bit of a sore subject..."

"I know, and I'm sorry... but I can't just give up on..." Saphron awkwardly apologized, before trailing off as she took a closer at the trio. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, blinked again, before finally asking: "... would you happen to be... Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie?"

Pyrrha blinked bemusedly; it was the first time someone else had been recognized over her. Then, paranoia kicked in; neither Ren nor Nora were exactly famous. How did this Saphron know them?

Nora, not privy to Pyrrha's thoughts, boldly stepped forward, and answered: "Yeah, that's us! Ren and Nora, of-"

"Do you know where my brother is?!"

"... huh?" Nora deflated in confusion. Saphron desperately continued: "I saw you two competing at the Vytal Festival at Vale, with my brother, Jaune! You know, the tall blonde noodle? You were teammates, right?"

Pyrrha's heart sank as the familiarity finally became apparent to her. The tears she'd thought she'd run out of threatened to come back, and Pyrrha found herself thankful for her hood once more. Nora's face fell, though, and Ren winced. Saphron noticed, and her voice shook as she asked: "Did... did something happen to him?"

"... maybe we should talk about this over dinner, Saphron," Pandora interjected, looking around at the general atmosphere, which was negative enough to summon a Goliath. "Feel free to bring Terra over when her work ends! You know where my place is, right?"

**-1 DINNER LATER-**

"Terra, dear, why don't you put Adrian to bed?" Saphron hinted, with all the subtlety of a Beringel, and as Terra complied, she leaned forward, waiting desperately for someone to start. The teenagers around the table gulped and looked down, but Pandora put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, and gently squeezed, before throwing out a simple hook: "Pyrrha, why don't you start? You used to talk about him all the time, back in Beacon!"

"Oh?"

"Mother!" Pyrrha shouted, face flushed, and she ignored Nora's waggling eyebrows as she began: "Jaune was... he was my best friend, and the best partner and team leader we could ever have asked for. Team JNPR was lucky to have him. Did... didn't you ever hear from him?"

Saphron sighed, and as she stared into her glass of water she explained: "Jaune... my little brother always wanted to be a hero, you know. A Huntsman, saving people from the Grimm. But he was never the strongest, physically, and our parents disagreed.

"He ran away in the middle of the night with the family sword, and no matter how much we all searched, we couldn't find him. He even left his scroll behind, and didn't tell us where he was going, so we didn't know where to even start looking, or how to contact him!

"The first news we had of him was during the Vytal Festival, when we saw him and his team win. We were furious, of course; what on earth was our Jaune doing, participating in _the_ Vytal Festival?! But we were also proud, deep down, that he'd apparently grown enough to hold his own.

"And then the CCT fell, Beacon fell, Vale was thrown into chaos... and no matter how much we asked around, nobody knew what happened on that night. No one could even tell us if our brother made it off of Amity safely...

"Please, at least tell me... did he make it?"

Tears flowed freely from Saphron's face as the dam burst, and she vented out all her bottled-up feelings. Ren and Nora held each other sadly, and Pyrrha's mother stroked her daughter's head, trying to comfort her. Pyrrha swallowed, and finally answered: "I'm sorry."

Saphron choked up as her brother's fate was finally, definitively confirmed, but she forced herself to smile, and said: "Thanks for your honesty... Pyrrha, right? Could you also tell me... how it happened?"

"He... Jaune died a hero, Ms. Arc. He forced me to leave, pushed me into a rocket locker and sent me away, while he stayed behind to hold back a monster he had no hope of facing... I'm sorry, if I'd been faster, if I'd been stronger..."

The tears were coming back to Pyrrha as she relived that fateful day. Drawing the broken halves of Jaune's sword, she continued: "He was still alive when I returned with help, but then we got distracted... I'm sorry, if I hadn't gotten distracted... he jumped in front of his friend, and took half a dozen arrows to the chest for her."

"It's not your fault." Saphron reassured her, gripping Pyrrha's hand, and as the champion looked up her love's sister continued: "He chose to save his friends. Jaune's always been selfless and kind; he'd have made that choice ten out of ten times, gladly, and no questions asked."

"But, I was supposed to be the Invincible Girl, unbeatable! I should have been stronger, at least strong enough to protect my partner!"

"And by that logic," Ren interjected, as he and Nora approached her. "Nora and I are also at fault, because we should have been strong enough to protect our team leader."

"Yeah, don't get me wrong, when I see our Fearless Leader again I'm gonna break his legs for leaving us behind." Nora added. "But Pyrrha... he made his choice, to protect his friends. That's the kind of thing that made him the _best_ leader."

A moment of silence passed, as they reflected on their dearly-departed knight. Saphron then spoke up: "So... want to hear embarrassing stories about Jaune's childhood?"

"What happened to respect for the dead?"

"Oh, I love my baby brother to death and all, but Jaune owes the entire family for running away without so much as a note and causing us so much worry and grief. This is just a _taste_ of what we're gonna do to him when we get our hands on him in the damn _afterlife_!"

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"Ooh, ooh, did he really have seven sisters?"

"Seven sisters?!"

"Yeah, let me just find the picture on my scroll..."

Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh as she saw a picture of a frowning little Jaune with his hair in pigtails, surrounded by seven little girls, and a sign saying "HELP!", even as she thought it the cutest thing she'd ever seen. Silently, she found herself thinking that Jaune probably _would_ have wanted things this way, and if he was looking down on them right now he'd have been smiling.

**-SKIES ABOVE SKULDAFN, 31 EVENING STAR 4E201-**

Jaune was very much not smiling.

In fact, as Odahviing twisted and rolled, dodging the Frost Breaths of four of the many, many, _many_ dragons pursuing them, Jaune found his face stuck between a perpetual frown and the rictus of a constipated man.

Turns out his motion sickness affected Bullhead rides as well as _dragonback rides_! Who would have ever guessed?!

As they flew through a particularly strong wind current, and his lunch, breakfast, and previous day's dinner threatened to stage an escape from his esophagus, Jaune desperately clung on to his blonde brawler companion, who whooped with glee at the adrenaline rush of riding a dragon as he engaged in an aerial dogfight (dragonfight?) with other dragons, with the fate of the entire world hanging in the balance...

He turned green as he remembered exactly what was at stake, and the additional pressure finally tipped the scales firmly in the balance of his rebellious food. He quickly turned away and emptied the contents of stomach down below, eliciting a screech of disgust from a dragon that had been coming in from beneath them, a deep hearty rumbling chuckle from Odahviing, and raucous laughter from his fellow rider. As he heaved the last dredges of bile away, and wiped clean his mouth, he felt an arm wrap around him, and looked up to find himself staring at twinkling lilac eyes and a very toothy mischievous grin. He gulped in fear, somehow knowing exactly what was going to happen next, and tried to protest: "Now, hold on a second, Dragonborn..."

"Hope you've got a good landing strategy, Vomit Boy!"

"DANG IT, YANG!"

And then they were falling, very rapidly falling, as Odahviing sped away from Skuldafn, two dozen dragons flying after him, before he landed on the snout of another dragon, aura flaring as it absorbed the impact of his fall. The dragon stared at him blankly in surprise, before glaring at him angrily. Fortunately, before it could try to shake him off or eat him, the Dragonborn slammed feet first into the back of the dragon's head, concussing it, and Shouted Dragonrend at it. As the dragon began losing altitude rapidly, the blonde Dragonborn gripped hold of one of it's horns, before using the other to bash it's skull in. The dead dragon gouged a deep furrow through the ancient stonework as they jumped off their involuntary ride, and even as it's body began burning away in an ethereal light that swept towards her Yang let loose a victorious war-cry, arms raised triumphantly, and whooped: "AND ANOTHER DRAGON FALLS FOR THE IRRESISTABLE DRAGONBORN!" Jaune couldn't help but smack his face with his palm and groan, wondering just what he'd done to deserve an afterlife like this.

Okay, Jaune really didn't know if this actually _was_ the afterlife; he knew he had died, stopping the ravenette from killing his friends at the top of the tower, but he when he thought about the afterlife he imagined either a fiery pit of pointy pitchforks and punishments or eternal peace, not... well, not more work, more world-saving, and more aches and pains (and he didn't consider this a punishment, either; he did genuinely find satisfaction in helping the various settlements throughout this new world). Even now, slightly over 4 months into his new life here, he wasn't sure if this was the afterlife, a different timeline, another dimension, or an alternate reality (figures he'd get the one without indoor plumbing or comic books). All he knew, though was that he was somewhere that wasn't Remnant (the lack of Dust and 2 unbroken moons helped convince him), and he didn't know any way back to Remnant.

He'd just woken up after dying to find himself in a prison in the Imperial fort of Helgen slightly over 4 months ago. And if that wasn't bad enough, that had _also_ been the day a dragon known as the Oum-damned _World Eater_ (why couldn't they just call them nicer names, like Fluffykins the Merciful?) had returned from a rift in time, in order to bring about the end of the world. Fortunately, the Dragonborn Yang (though no one had known it yet) had also been there, and had saved him, pulling him out of the crumbling fort before the World-Eater had demolished it. After that, well... it wasn't like he had anything else to do in this world, and so he'd agreed to follow her, save the world, and hopefully help the people of Skyrim along the way. And if he found a way back home... well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it. No point thinking about what ifs; he still had the rest of his life to live and people to help, and he wasn't going to waste any of that dabbling in false hopes.

"Nice distraction." A hand was held in front of his face, and he glared at the smirking Yang in front of him, before giving up, grinning back, and grabbing her arm. As she pulled him up, he took a second to, once again, compare her to Remnant-Yang. Same hair, same beauty, same fiery temper, same pride, same love for mischief and bad jokes... it almost felt like looking into a mirror. But there were differences, too, from the way she talked, to her supreme confidence, to her utter ferocity and willingness to _kill_ in battle, to her unique Aura; they were just enough for him to appreciate that this was a different individual, her own person. He realized he was still staring when a flushed Yang slugged him gently in the arm, and joked: "I didn't think you'd also be distracted by your own distraction."

"Dang it, Yang..." Jaune groaned good-naturedly, before admitting: "I was just... thinking, about back home. I mean, we've wiped out a vampire clan, stopped a brainwashed cult trying to resurrect a dead Dragonborn, and now we're almost done with saving the world from the World Eater, right? What's next?"

"Well, there's still the Thalmor, the Civil War, and my hair to take care of, Vomit Boy." Dragonborn-Yang replied, frowning. "You're not going to leave me alone to take care of all of that by my poor little self, right?"

"I owe you my life, Dragonborn, and an Arc never goes back on his word." Jaune proudly declared, all while steadfastly refusing to comment on how she was about as poor, little, and weak as a dragon. Then he shrugged, and added: "Besides, I don't know how to get back, anyway. Like I told you when we met, I don't even know how I got _here_."

"Some day, you're going to have to tell me more about that world of yours, Vomit Boy, But for now I'm going to need you to focus."

"Why? What's wro-" Jaune began to ask, before finally looking around at his surroundings, and freezing. There were draugr, undead warriors, at least two score of them, each of them wielding glinting ebony weapons. Drawing his sheath, he flicked it into a familiar shield, and asked: "Where the hell did they all come from?!"

"We _may_ have made quite a bit of noise when we rode the dragon down... more than enough noise to wake the _dead_ , by the looks of it."

"Dang it, Yang! This is _just_ like that cave full of vampires!" Jaune complained, even as he quickly took stock of the situation. The barrows they'd landed on were _massive_ , and since this had been a major temple of the dragons, millennia ago (or close enough; he still wasn't sure if this place had the same concept of time or years), he felt safe in assuming that there were probably a nigh-infinite number of draugr still within. And, strong as Dragonborn Yang may have been, she didn't have her Aura unlocked like him; even she could be felled by sheer weight of numbers, and that was ignoring the possibility of the dozens of dragons coming back and throwing themselves at the pair as well.

Then again, he didn't need to; the win condition was as simple as locating the portal and getting Dragonborn Yang through it. He felt safe in assuming the portal was probably at the top of the stairs (the swirling vortex at the top was a hint, he supposed), and the elite defenders guarding it were probably no match for Yang, nor as pressing of a threat as dozens of dragons and thousands of draugr. Nudging Yang in the side with his elbow, he pointed to the top, and she nodded before the pair turned around and began sprinting up. Bloodthirsty vicious adrenaline junkie as Dragonborn Yang may have been, she still knew when to take things seriously. That, or she just wanted to conserve her energy so that she could go all out against the World Eater later; both were equally likely reasons, to be perfectly blunt. Jaune wasn't complaining; she was just as hard-headed as Remnant-Yang, and he didn't fancy trying to convince to do anything she didn't want to.

As they reached the top, and Yang punched a floating Dragon Priest in the face, knocking it's desiccated and decayed head clean off, Jaune looked at the portal, and then looked back down the stairs, at the growing horde approaching them. Cursing under his breath, he looked back at the swirling vortex and the wall of light it fired into the sky, and then at Yang, who was cracking her knuckles and looking at the draugr like... well, exactly like how Yang would look at a mass of Grimm. Somehow, this whole situation felt depressingly familiar to him, and he found himself sighing, before turning to Yang. She looked back at him excitedly, before catching the look on his face.

"Vomit Boy?"

"Yang, you need to go. Get through the portal, and stop the World-Eater."

"And what about _you_?! You're coming through with me too... right?" Yang demanded angrily, gripping a fistful of his hoodie, but he matched her lilac gaze, and explained: "Someone's got to hold them off, stop Alduin's forces from coming through the portal and reinforcing her."

"No... no, Jaune! I'm not leaving you! We can beat them back _together_ , and then go through the portal! We've been through worse! For Akatosh's sake, the undead horde in Castle Volkihar was twice the size of this!"

"We don't have time, Yang!" Jaune argued, gripping her shoulders. "This is different! Who knows how strong the World-Eater grows every passing moment, how many souls it devours?! There's just too much at stake!"

"But... I..." Yang stuttered, lost for words, torn between duty and loyalty. Jaune didn't miss his chance, and pushed hard. Yang stumbled back, cursing his name, and then she fell through the portal. Sighing, Jaune idly thought back to the other time he'd done that. He wondered idly if Pyrrha had forgiven for pulling that stunt. Then he winced, imagining the wrath of Dragonborn Yang and Pyrrha if they ever got ahold of him once more, and shuddered, vowing to never let the two meet. Well, first he had to actually get out of his predicament... wouldn't be the first time he'd stared down impossible odds. Ripping the ornate staff from the ground in front of the portal, he watched the rocks settle and the howling vortex die, and hoped that Dragonborn Yang could find her way back from Sovngarde. Then he pointed the head of the staff at the encroaching hordes, and concentrated.

A fun fact he'd discovered as he'd tried to learn more about this world and it's magic was that he was completely unable to cast it. Magicka, what they used to cast spells, came from within their body; as his body had apparently come from Remnant, he had none.

But staffs and enchanted weapons ran on the charges of soul gems, the essence of life. And, as Pyrrha had told him, Aura was a manifestation of the soul. It had taken a bit of practice, but he'd figured out how to channel his Aura into enchanted weapons and staffs, and from there activate the magic within.

Arcs of energy danced along the silver staff in his hand, before lightning spat out of the dragon's mouth towards the horde. Jaune sighed; he'd been hoping for a Fire spell. The bolt of electricity spread out as it hit the ground, and where it made contact streams of energt lashed out at anything nearby. The draugr, dry and dusty preserved corpses as they were, wrapped in metal armour as they were, attracted electricity as it shot amongst them, the sparks igniting a not-insignificant number. Not quite enough, though; for every one that fell five more took it's place, and then there were the dragons...

Tossing away the spent staff, he drew the dragonbone blade Yang had a blacksmith in Whiterun make for him, and crouched into the beginner's defensive stance Pyrrha had drilled into him, before roaring defiantly and charging at the draugr.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: And we're back, with the second chapter, ahead of schedule! A year later (Remnant time), and yet another about-to-die Jaune! Who managed to guess Yang would be the Dragonborn? I dropped so many hints...
> 
> The initial Pyrrha section is as much to show how different things are compared to canon (and the less said about RWBY canon, the better), as well as to give both Pyrrha and Jaune's family some form of closure.
> 
> Because damn it, Jaune and Pyrrha fucking deserve it.
> 
> Yes, I know, a story about Jaune acting as the Lydia to a Dragonborn Yang is comedy gold, as the dynamic duo make their way across Skyrim. Not to mention the numerous glorious action scenes. Unfortunately, this story isn't that kind of story; I didn't plan for this to be long enough for me to add in the details of how they accidentally stumble across a den of mind-controlled werebears ("Why is it always Ursa?!" "What's an Ursa?"), or of Dragonborn Yang trying to pull Jaune out of a Black Book as tentacles try to drag the interesting transdimensional interloper into Apocrypha to be... "studied".
> 
> Instead, for the sake of comedic timing, I'm cutting straight to specific scenes.
> 
> And before people ask, yes, Jaune got a lot stronger in Skyrim. 5 months in the harsh wartorn wilderness fighting bandits, vampires, dragons, daedra, and bears, as well as living in a world without indoor plumbing, would definitely toughen anybody up. More importantly, though, Dragonborn Yang's dragon soul has been mixing with and rubbing off on Jaune's soul every time he's used his Aura Amplification Semblance to heal her (and before anybody asks, no, Dragonborn Yang's aura is not unlocked. That would be fucking broken. Also, I doubt Jaune "I don't know what Aura is" Arc would know how to unlock someone's Aura. I don't know if Aura needs to be unlocked for Jaune's Semblance to work in canon, but in this story, at least it does not need to be unlocked for him to heal somebody. Of course, if the other party has Aura, the healing would be a lot more efficient...), and as a result his Aura's basically juiced up to the point where it's constantly active and nigh-unbreakable; only a hit from enemies like dragons or giants would actually be able to even dent it. And no, Jaune does not have magic in Skyrim, as magicka is a physical property, and Jaune's body is still of Remnant. Thus he has absolutely no magicka capacity to speak of. However, enchantments run on soul energy (see, soul trapping and soul gems), and so Jaune can essentially charge (and overcharge) weapon enchantments for as long as he can channel Aura into them (which, with his newly-strengthened Aura levels, is a very long time). Like I said, Jaune as the long-suffering Lydia to the Dragonborn Yang, complete with all these restrictions, would easily make for an interesting, action-packed, and comedic story.
> 
> Which can be told by somebody else. I'm too busy breaking every rule of storytelling by telling and not showing.
> 
> As for why the dates in Skyrim are being used as they are; feel free to check my Skyrim story to see how the timeline roughly progresses in my head. Is it "shilling" if I'm shamelessly plugging my own story (and without getting paid, too; for shame...)?
> 
> As usual, feel free to drop any and all criticisms, constructive or not (I expect a lot, with this chapter dropping). I don't really mind curses, as long as they all help me to improve.
> 
> Teaser for the next chapter: The title said "Two Worlds". But it never specified that Remnant was one of them.


	3. The Awkward Second Act

**-4 YEARS AFTER THE FALL-**

An unnatural wind buffeted Tyrian as he recklessly leapt forward, knocking him into the wall, before a golden-hilted sword flew at him, piercing through his Aura and pinning him by his tail. Pyrrha then shot him repeatedly with Milo, depleting his Aura and leaving him open and defenseless for Qrow to run through. His last words were screaming for his goddess to forgive him.

Behind her, Hazel went toe-to-toe with Nora and Yang simultaneously, before Ren managed to distract him with a hail of bullets, and Penny flew in, Maiden-enhanced blades flying towards him. Even so, he still managed to shatter most of them before a heavy blow to his legs and a devastating punch finally shattered his already-low aura and broke an arm.

Up ahead, Ruby zipped around Salem, who was being kept in check by the full power and concentration of Ozpin. Precise geometric locations relative to Salem had to be hit at precise intervals for the God's curse of immortality to be stripped, albeit temporarily. Her silver eyes constantly glowed as she warded away any Grimm who tried to approach Salem's tower and aid their Queen. The dual efforts taxed her considerably, but she _had_ to end this. No more Summers, no more Falls, and no more Jaunes. His memory, his sacrifice, and the complex emotions she hadn't had time to do more than bury, they fueled her silver eyes when even her will faltered.

Finally, it was done, and Salem screamed as the Relic of Destruction pierced her chest. Team RWBY and NPR gathered around the successful Reaper, and tiredly cheered. It had taken the near-destruction of 2 Kingdoms, and much blood on all their parts, but finally, after untold millennia, the threat of Salem no longer hung over Remnant. Ozpin lowered his arms and relaxed, and suggested: "Excellent work, Team RWBYNPR. Now, how abo-"

A blast of eldritch fire knocked Ozpin into the wall, and they looked back, weapons raised, to find one very angry Queen of the Grimm. Evidently, the vestiges of her immortality were fighting to keep her alive, and they'd made the mistake of conflating "dying" with "dead". With an angry declaration of "I will not see the end of this conflict... but neither will you!" Salem gestured at them, and the ground exploded under their feet, engulfing them in a bright light.

**-? ? ?, 14 MORNING STAR 4E202-**

The members of Team RWBYNPR woke up screaming, before calming down upon realizing they were all intact and present. Slowly, they got up at their own pace, looking around, trying to figure out what had happened. Ruby was the first to speak up: "Uh, guys, what happened? Are we still in the Grimmlands?"

"Well, there's trees... and it's a lot less purple than I remember... think killing the Evil Queen had something to do with it?" Nora replied, recovering as quickly as ever. She somehow didn't even sound fazed that they'd woken up, to find the sun was setting, and they were in a lush forest on the side of a mountain during what seemed to be winter, instead of a desolate dead wasteland, stuck in perpetual night, illuminated only by glowing purple crystals that dotted the lands. Then again, though, it would have probably have taken the end of the world to actually depress her for a third time.

"Uh, guys... I don't think we're in Remnant anymore..." Ren, analytical as ever, slowly spoke up, eyes wide. Pyrrha noted with no small amount of concern that his face actually showed an emotion of fear and shock, and followed his gaze upwards. Her jaw dropped even as Ruby cluelessly asked: "What makes you say that?"

"There's two moons in the sky, you dolt." Weiss snapped at her partner as the stress of their situation finally hit her, and she defaulted to back to sarcasm.

"They're beautiful..." Pyrrha murmured, watching the Northern Lights dance across the starry sky, illuminating the two unbroken moons in the distance. Her partner would have loved them; she'd seen the childlike glee in his eyes when they'd been at Forever Fall (after he'd finally been able to focus on something _besides_ Cardin, granted). Not for the first time, a pang of longing throbbed in her chest, but she beat it back down with long-practiced ease. There were more pressing concerns, at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's all very pretty, but can we please focus on what's important? Namely, WHERE IN OUM'S NAME ARE WE?!" Yang exploded, her outburst making everyone nearby wince, and she ignored her partner's attempts to calm her down in favour of ranting: "We've spent the past 4 years running or fighting, been through a fucking war, fought our way through _armies_ of Grimm, and finally, _finally_ beat Salem... for this?!"

The general mood fell as the reality of their predicament finally hit them; even Ruby had no words of optimism as she remembered what she had told Blake a lifetime ago, about living happily ever after. Then she frowned, remembering that not all of them had even _lived_ to see the final battle.

Fortunately, Nora and Ren were as unflappable as ever; Nora gripped Ren's hand and just began skipping in a random direction. Blake raised an eyebrow at this, and gave up trying to pacify Yang in favour of asking them: "Hey, where are you guys going?"

"Oh, we're just going to look for the nearest settlement, silly! Hey, Ren, think they have pancakes here? What about sloths? Ooh, what about sloth-shaped pancakes?! Or sloths cooking pancakes?!"

"Uh, aren't you guys in the least bit worried about what's going on? Or about getting home?"

"Home is where the heart is; as long as Nora and I are still together, it doesn't matter where we are." Ren sagely replied, smiling at the now-blushing Valkyrie, and Blake and Pyrrha had to look away from the sickeningly sweet couple or risk gagging. Ruby giggled, amused at their antics, but Weiss raised an eyebrow at them, and pointed out with no small or unjustified degree of skepticism: "And how do you even know _where_ the nearest settlement is? Or that there's even intelligent life where we are?"

Ren merely pointed to the ground, and Weiss flushed with embarrassment as he coolly said: "There's a paved road."

Yang, meanwhile, had finally cooled down, having finished ranting and venting (and turning a _quite_ a few unlucky trees into splinters), and she considered the couple's words. She couldn't help but feel pissed, feel cheated, at the fact that they'd fought so hard, sacrificed so much, and they didn't even get to reap the fruits of their labour. She didn't even want to imagine how Uncle Qrow was taking their disappearance, let alone her Dad!

But the Fall of Beacon, and the fights that followed, had taught her to accept loss, and accept what she couldn't change. Sure, her long-term goal was to get Ruby and the rest of her friends back to Remnant, but in the short-term she'd be better off adapting to this new world and looking out for them, rather than losing her cool and throwing a temper tantrum. Sighing, letting loose her tension, her eyes slowly went back to their normal colour, and the flames around her died down as she re-joined the group, and quipped: "I don't know about you guys, but I hope there's a clothes store nearby! It is _Weiss_ -cold out here!"

"Xiao-Long, I will end you!"

Groaning good-naturedly, the now light _er_ -hearted group decided to follow the survivalist pair's lead (they had all become experienced in surviving in the wilds, sure, but Ren and Nora had a decade's head start over them), and soon, unsurprisingly, Ren and Nora were proven correct. As they slowly followed the winding road down the hill, Blake spotted smoke, and they soon came across a small village, situated in front of a massive chasm and an impressive stone bridge. Ren and Yang respectively clamped down on Nora's and Ruby's mouths before they could squeal or say anything weird or awkward, and Blake rolled her eyes as Weiss commented on the clearly impoverished nature of the village below ("Not everyone has exploited enough faunus labour to afford a _cake butler_ , Weiss." "I told you, I was going to fix that once the war was over, you mangy cat!").

Finally, they reached the cozy village, immediately asked the local guards for directions to the nearest tavern (" _Yang_..." "It was just _one_ time, Rubes! One time!"), and proceeded to the building with a sign with 4 shields, more than happy for the chance to rest their feet. They hadn't realized due to the sheer amount of adrenaline in their systems, but fighting through armies of Grimm, the mad champions of Salem, taking down the immortal Grimm Queen herself, almost dying, and walking down a mountain through ankle-deep snow had taken a _lot_ more out of them than they'd realized (or expected). Ruby and Pyrrha went up to the counter as their teammates settled down comfortably at a table in the far corner, but it was only after they'd begun ordering (Ruby had received a bemused look from the tavern owner as she'd ordered milk, and she'd had no idea what "strawberry sunrises" or "pancakes" were) that they also realized a fundamental problem: money.

"Uh, do you accept lien?" Ruby had asked, and the tavern owner's eyebrow merely raised even higher, but it wasn't unkindly that she said: "Sorry, kid, but we only take septims."

Pyrrha patted Ruby on the back as her face fell to comical proportions, but the owner chuckled, and interjected before Pyrrha could apologize: "Don't worry about it. It's on the house; my meals are hardly a Jarl's feast, but I'm sure they'll fill your belly."

"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Ruby jumped at and embraced the now-amused innkeeper, and some of the other patrons laughed and raised their drinks with good cheer, as she awkwardly continued: "It's no big deal. The whole of Skyrim's been celebrating for the past 2 weeks, any why should we not? The Dragonborn has slayed the World-Eater, after all! And even if it wasn't, as her close companion used to always say, "Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet"!"

"Aye, "unless they try to attack you or rob you first"!" Another added, laughing and raising his bottle in the air. Ruby and Pyrrha stiffened, the familiar phrase stirring emotions long-buried. Before they could fully recover from their shock, a third shouted: "One more toast, in honour of his memory! He may have been an outsider, and a bit of a milk-drinker ("What's wrong with milk?" Ruby whispered to Pyrrha, who was still in no condition to even listen, let alone respond), but he had the heart of a true Nord, and died a true Nord's death! May he long feast in Sovngarde!"

"Now, Horgeir, don't let the Dragonborn hear you say that." The innkeeper chided, frowning. "You know she doesn't believe he's really dead."

"I'm sorry, but may I ask, who you are talking about?" Pyrrha interrupted in a hoarse voice, desperate for answers. She refused to believe her ears. The embers of hope, extinguished over 4 years ago at the top of that tower like _his_ life, slowly rekindled. Ruby felt similarly; her first guy-friend, her first Beacon-friend, the dork who'd basically been her best friend... she could never forget the words he'd told her, when she'd been feeling down, and he'd reached his hand out. The innkeeper, unaware of their mental turmoil, chuckled, and replied: "Oh, we're just talking about the Dragonborn's companion. Did... did you not hear the tales of the final battle?"

"We're... not exactly from around here..." Ruby admitted. Behind them, back at the table, the rest of their team had been alerted by the cheers, and now looked back at the main hall, quietly discussing what was going on. The innkeeper nodded, answering: "Aye, I figured when you tried to pay me with those weird parchments, but I didn't realize how little you were aware of. I would have thought the bards would have sang their songs beyond even the borders of Skyrim by now."

"The bards are all probably still too drunk!" The laughing man declared, before turning to the pair of redheads at the counter, and loudly whispering: "Did you know, the Dragonborn and her faithful knight actually helped our town out? Most outsiders don't believe us, but I swear by the Divines, they did! Remember how ol' Varnius went to the Jarl about strange noises and lights from the cave? And then-"

The door burst open, interrupting the man's story, and a blonde stalked in. Ruby and Pyrrha turned around, and immediately froze. Their teammates at the back, meanwhile, inched closer and closer to the conversation, wondering what was wrong. The blonde warrior ignored the two redheaded statues as she strutted up to the counter, a mask of false bravado and cockiness that hid immense grief and sorrow visible only to Ruby (because Ruby _knew_ that face, had grown up _with_ that face, but it couldn't be _that_ face, the owner of _that_ face was five tables back). The innkeeper waved merrily at her, and said: "Hail, Dragonborn; we didn't know you were coming! We were just telling these travelers about the time you cleared out that nest of undead and necromancers, as well as your latest battle; somehow, they didn't even know about your duel with the World-Eater, or of your loyal knight! Come, sit by the fire; I'll have your usual strawberry mead warmed up for you!"

"Many thanks, Faida, but that won't be necessary." The Dragonborn said, holding out a sack of coins. "I'll just be staying the night."

"What's the hurry, Dragonborn? Are you sure we can't convince you to stay?"

"I'm sure. I need to head further north tomorrow; I've got a lead on where _he's_ disappeared to."

"... Dragonborn... it's been two weeks..."

"He's not dead!" The Dragonborn hissed, slamming her fist on the counter (and accidentally shattering the wood into splinters). Startled by the newcomer's sudden violent outburst, the rest of Team RWBYNPR subtly got up, prepared to move to their leaders' defense. As they creeped closer, they heard the blonde bombshell declare: "Vomit Boy's not dead! He promised he wouldn't leave me, and an Arc never goes back on his word."

It was too much for her to take in; the tears began to well-up in Pyrrha's eyes. It _couldn't_ have been, no matter how much evidence there was. It was just impossible. There were thousands of ways for her heart to be wrong. But still, it reminded her too much of _him_ , and she whispered: "Jaune..."

Immediately, the Dragonborn turned to face her, lilac eyes flashing with suspicion, and demanded: "How do you know his name?"

"Yang?" Ruby murmured, dumbstruck. It couldn't have been her sister, since her sister was right there at the back of the tavern, but it was clearly her sister right in front of her, including violently trashed a bar and threatening a random bystander with a violence for information. The blonde turned her glare on the younger redhead, and asked: "How do you know _my_ name?!"

"HEY! LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!" Yang (her Yang) shouted, jumping out from the back, fist already cocked and flying. The blonde in front of Ruby casually deflected the telegraphed blow, before turning around, eyebrow cocked. Then her face froze, as she stared into a mirror. Yang also froze, metal arm already raised. Yang blinked. Yang blinked too. The other occupants of the tavern, who'd all gotten up at the first sounds of violence, and members of Team RWBYNPR, who'd already been inching closer, all froze and blinked, trying to figure out what they were seeing. Unfortunately, Nora was the first to recover: "Woah, there's _two_ Yangs!"

**-90% OF AN EXPLANATION LATER-**

"So... let me get this straight. You guys are from an alternate world called Remnant? Where there's only one broken moon, creatures of darkness roam the wilds, and near-instant communication exists?" Other-Yang asked skeptically, eyebrow raised, as she looked around the occupants of the room she'd rented. Team RWBYNPR met her gaze levelly, knowing how unrealistic their story sounded. Nora excitedly pressed on, answering: "Yeah, pretty much! Last we knew, we were fighting some evil witch, and next thing we know, we're here! Now, enough about us; why do you know our fearless leader? How did you meet Jaune-Jaune?"

"Nora... we don't know if it's... "our" Jaune." Weiss chided with a frown, and Nora's, Ruby's, and Pyrrha's hearts, hopes, and faces fell as she sadly pointed out: "She's clearly this reality's Yang; she was probably referring to _this_ reality's Jaune Arc-"

"Huh, so Vomit Boy really was telling the truth." Other-Yang murmured, and immediately all the attention in the room went to her. Pyrrha, too used to being the stoic professional fighter, found the emotional whiplash she was experiencing... uncomfortable, but she forced herself to listen to Other-Yang, refusing to give up hope one last time. "He told me he came from Remnant, too. Didn't believe him at first, but he showed me his transforming shield-sheath, and I got to see his Aura first-hand, which I could have just waved off as magic if not for the fact he had absolutely no magicka, so you could say I'm a bit more... open-minded, about this."

"It really is him..." Pyrrha whispered in disbelief, tears flowing freely, before she started sobbing: "He really did survive..."

Nora and Ren embraced Pyrrha happily, euphoric at the idea that their team leader hadn't been killed all along. Even Team RWBY shared a smile, Ruby feeling a considerable weight lifted from heart, before frowning, recalling the story she'd heard earlier, in the tavern. Giving Team NPR some space, she whispered to Other-Yang: "So, why do they think he's dead?"

Other-Yang gritted her teeth, but patiently explained: "Well... during our final battle... that damn idiot pushed me into the portal to Sovngarde, while he stayed behind to hold off a horde of undead and dozens of dragons."

"That... doesn't sound very promising..." Yang slowly said, frowning, even as Ruby blanched at the mental image. Other-Yang held her hand up, forestalling any further interruptions, and continued: " _If_ he had fallen in battle, it would have been a glorious death, and even if he wasn't a Nord he would have been more than fit to go to Sovngarde."

"Sovngarde? You mean, the place you were in?"

"Ah, right, I forgot how little you know. Sovngarde is a different plane of existence, where our glorious dead go to feast and fight for the rest of eternity-"

"Wait, you know where souls go after they die here?!"

"... we have necromancers running around raising the dead every other week. There are tombs full of ghosts, undead, and bound and trapped souls. And we've had an inter-planar invasion from the realms of Oblivion 200 years ago. So, yes, I think we're more than aware of what happens after death." Other-Yang pointed out dryly, and Weiss shook her head, trying to comprehend the concept of... well, all of this. As she muttered and pondered, Other-Yang dismissed her rambling and summarized: "Look, I was _in_ Sovngarde. I can summon heroes _from_ Sovngarde. If he was in Sovngarde, I would know. And he _isn't_ , so..."

"So that means he still has to be out there somewhere!" Ruby finished, excited at the thought. Other-Yang nodded, before pointing to her doppelganger and asking: "So... I guess you're... the me from Remnant?"

"I guess I _Yang_." Yang said, and the pair laughed as the room collectively groaned ("Oh, great, now there's two of _them_."). Other-Yang nodded in understanding, before looking down at her robot arm with a raised eyebrow. Yang glared at her, and said: "It's a long story..."

"Well, good thing you're not my future, because clearly, things are not all _right_."

"You want to throw down here, bitch?! How old are you even, anyway?!"

"I'll be seeing my 21st summer this year."

"Hah! I'm already 21!"

" _Yang_!" Ruby whined, before pleading: "Be more mature! She's Jaune's friend!"

"But, sis..."

"No buts!"

"Huh, so she's my... your... our sister?" Other-Yang asked, pointing to Ruby, before inspecting her up and down. "I can't believe Raven would willingly go through childbirth a second time..."

"Ew, gross, no. We share a father but different mothers."

"I can't believe Raven would _share_ her husband with anybody."

"Oh, Oum, ew!"

"Stop corrupting my baby sister's ears, Other-Me! And no, she wouldn't!"

"Ah... I can't believe Raven would let her husband _cheat_ on her."

"I think I'm going to be sick!"

"But if they alread- don't jump towards me, you dolt! No, no, turn away!"

"NO! They already separated by then!"

"... I can't believe Raven would let her husband just _walk_ awa-"

"She's the one who left!"

" _Oh_... yeah, I can definitely believe Raven _would_ just walk away..."

"Yeah..."

"... so, Raven's a bitch in every world, then."

"Pretty much... anyway, why do you call Jaune "Vomit Boy"?"

"When we first met, he threw up on my boots."

"Oh, god, you too?!"

"Too?! Vomit Boy sure never changes..."

"And I'm sure P-Money and Rubes are _very_ happy to hear _that_!" Yang teased cheerfully, unable to resist, before abruptly feeling a chill shoot up her spine. It wasn't Ruby's protests that scared her, nor was it Pyrrha's red-faced stammering. It was the way Other-Yang's eyes flashed red that gave her pause, and she gulped as Other-Yang growled: "Oh? And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Fortunately for everyone, Weiss, ever quick-thinking, pushed Ruby off of her, and tried to defuse the situation by asking: "Oh... did he tell you about how he... uh, died, in our world?"

"He always said he didn't want to talk about it."

"Well, he pushed his partner, Pyrrha ("Hello there.") into an escape vehicle, while he stayed behind to fight an insurmountable monster. And then he took a dozen arrows for Ruby."

"Oh... did he now?" Other-Yang sighed, rubbing her temples with her right hand. "Does he have a death wish or something? Is there a universe where Vomit Boy doesn't just throw himself thoughtlessly into harm's way?"

Pyrrha, finding common ground with Other-Yang, giggled, and teased her: "Don't worry, when we get our hands on him... I'll let you have a turn with him after I give him a piece of my mind."

"Hey, what about me?"

"You can go after Other-Yang, Ruby..."

Unfortunately, far from easing Other-Yang's concerns, she only served to exacerbate them. The Dragonborn cautiously studied the girls in the room, and asked: "So... what's your plans now?"

"Find Jaune and bring him back home, of course. Why?"

"Well, see, here's the thing. I'll happily accept your help in finding him, and I'll happily help you girls go back home, but..."

"But?"

"But Vomit Boy's _mine_."

"""What?!"""

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Big Red. Vomit Boy is _my_ companion. He stays with _me_."

"He was _my_ partner first! And my team leader! We're taking him back!"

"Says who?"

"Guys, back me up!"

"Aye, aye! C'mon Renny, we need to fight Other-Yang for Fearless Leader to protect Pyrrha's one true love!"

"Nora!"

As Other-Yang pounced at Jaune's former team, and they leapt out of the way as her landing demolished the wall behind them, Yang stared, slack-jawed at the revelation. Weiss elbowed Yang in the side, and teased: "So, you and Jaune, huh? Can't say I saw _that_ coming..."

"Shut up, Weiss! That's other-me, not me-me!"

"You know what they say about playground romances, Yang? And how immature children tease their crushes?" Blake added, relishing in the opportunity to turn the tables on their teammate. Yang paled, blanched, and said: "By Oum, no! He's a nice guy and all, but he's a bit too much of a noodle for me. And don't _ever_ let Ruby hear you say that! I- where's Rubes?"

"Jaune is _MINE_!"

"Good job, Ruby, now hold her do- ow! Why are you hitting _me_?!"

Ruby's head had been a complete mess thanks to the non-stop revelations of that day. Salem was dead, finally, after years of fighting. She was in another reality. _Other realities existed_ , just like in her comics! Dragons were real in this reality! There was another Yang in this reality, and she was a hero who'd also saved her world from an ancient evil! And Jaune...

Jaune, her Jaune, her Dork Knight and first friend from Beacon, had survived! He hadn't been killed by Cinder when he'd jumped in front of her, using his injured body and depleted aura to take those arrows for her! She had no idea _how_ , but she hadn't caused the death of her bestie!

And, somehow, he'd been lost from this reality, too. Once again fighting impossible odds to save the day like the hero he'd always wanted to be. But he definitely _wasn't_ dead. She could get him back! Bring him back to Remnant, where his family could see him again! And where they could hang out! Where she could finally show her gratitude to him for everything he'd done! She wondered if Jaune would like how much she'd grown; she'd been drinking lots of milk.

And now this... this Other-Yang! She was being a meanie and not letting him go back to where he truly belonged! Not letting him go back home! And Pyrrha... Pyrrha had been someone who'd comforted Ruby, after he'd gone, told her it wasn't her fault. But Ruby couldn't hold her feelings back any longer; Pyrrha may have been close friends with her and Jaune, but she and Jaune were first friends, besties, and she wasn't giving that up to _anyone_. One thing was for sure; Ruby wasn't going to take any of this lying down; she hadn't gone through everything just to lose her bestie-and-maybe-more a _second_ time! Roaring, she withdrew Crescent Rose, and zipped into the fray.

Yang, Weiss, and Blake stared at the ensuing melee, and then past the melee and through the destroyed wall to see the villagers beginning to gather, looking at the destruction of the local watering hole in horror. Yang stared at Weiss, who shared a look with Blake, and the two looked back at the blonde, who sighed and leapt into the fray, hoping for once to _minimize_ the collateral damage.

Of course, that pipe dream lasted for as long as it took for Ren (and not Nora, surprisingly) to accidentally hit both Yangs' hair with a bullet charged with Lightning Dust. Then the twin volcanoes of Mt Yang and Mt Yang erupted, and as Weiss and Blake grabbed the innocent townsfolk and dragged them to safety, Weiss admitted: "I can't believe Ruby _finally_ said it."

"I can't believe _Pyrrha_ actually admitted it."

"Yeah... drat, I owe Xiao-Long 20 lien. By the way, you _are_ recording this, right?"

"Oh, _yeah_. So, who do you think he'll end up with?"

"I don't know, Blake, and I don't care. If whoever it is can stop him from ever calling me "Snow Angel" again, I'll personally fund their entire wedding and honeymoon."

**-MEDICAL BAY, THE CITADEL, 30 OCTOBER 2277-**

"Wait, so you really called her "Snow Angel"?!" Ruby Rose asked her one of her two latest companions (and the only one allowed inside the Citadel, at any rate), fighting hard to suppress her giggles. She had a reputation to maintain, after all; most of the Brotherhood of Steel was still iffy about an outsider like her _unofficially_ joining their group, even if she had earned _quite_ the reputation as the Lone Wanderer (and as the daughter of the dearly-departed James Ironwood).

Throw in the fact that she'd received _Power Armor Training_ , _and_ been (honourarily) inducted into the elite Lyons' Pride, despite never even having been initiated into their ranks (let alone ever even having been an actual Initiate), _and_ she was only 19 to boot, and it was more than understandable that she felt she had something to prove, especially in front of the troops.

The man she'd found in the Frankensteins' Vault knew nothing about and cared even less for her reputation, and he groaned into his hands good-naturedly as he defended himself: "Look, I was young, infatuated, and had no experience whatsoever with the fairer sex! And I eventually got the hint, honest!"

"I thought you said you grew up with seven sisters?" Sentinel Sarah Lyons, leader of Lyons' Pride, asked skeptically. She still wasn't too sure about this newcomer; there were too many holes in his story (and seriously, what was up with his stories anyway? They sounded nothing like life in the Capital Wasteland!), and it was clear he wasn't telling the whole truth. Not to mention the fact that they knew literally nothing about him; they'd sent the Lone Wanderer to Vault 87 to find the G.E.C.K., but then she'd returned from a fortified Enclave base (after having destroyed it, of course) with a _Frankenstein_ and the boy in tow, instead of a G.E.C.K. Finding out that Vault 87, which was irradiated enough to kill even power-armoured paladins in mere seconds, was the _source_ of the Frankensteins was bad enough. But finding out that the boy had also apparently been found in the Vault, and "had just woken up there", raised nothing but alarm bells in her head. _How_ could any normal human survive in Vault 87?! Let alone, apparently, get out, break into a fortified Enclave base, and break out the Lone Wanderer?!

That was why she'd ignored her initial instinct to assault the Purifier as soon as the Wanderer had returned, opting instead to have him immediately hauled to Medical. It was the fastest way to verify his humanity. To his credit, the boy had simply shrugged and agreed (the few dozen laser rifle barrels pointed at him may have had a hand in persuading him, of course), and as the Lyons' Pride has escorted him and the Lone Wanderer down (they needed to make sure she was okay, after infiltrating the Frankensteins' nest and being captured by the Enclave), they'd started subtly questioning him, and he'd been more than happy to oblige, currently regaling them with a tale of how he'd tried (and failed miserably, an amused part of her noted) to woo a girl.

"Yeah, and that's exactly the problem! They were so overprotective; I swear, it's almost like their advice was designed to hinder me!" Jaune Arc huffed, crossing his arms with a pout. ""All you need is confidence", my ass! And don't even get me started on the cheesy nicknames and serenading stuff..."

Ruby couldn't help it; she burst out laughing at the adorable dork, rolling on the floor clutching her sides. It felt good, letting loose; between fleeing the Vault over 2 months ago, James's death 2 weeks ago, and the pressures of saving the Wasteland and living up to her image as a pseudo-knight in shining power armour, she'd been about to blow, bottling everything up. She didn't know if the tears that flowed were from the repressed sorrow or just from the absurd stunts the boy in front of her claimed to have pulled. Between those and how he looked like a pouting bunny right now, she'd have called him the sweetest, cutest, and least-threatening thing in the Wasteland, if she hadn't seen him punching out sentry bots with his bare hands (seriously, how had he not broken his knuckles?), or carving through the advanced Enclave power armour with his weird bone sword like a hot knife through butter (an apt metaphor, Ruby felt; she'd seen the blade burst into flames, on occasion, not dissimilar to a Shishkebab. It also sometimes froze over, and arcs of electricity sometimes danced along it, despite bone not being conductive to heat or electricity, and the weapon lacking any visible power source).

The Lyons' Pride members couldn't help but smile, seeing the young girl acting... well, acting like a young girl. When they'd first met her they'd thought her naive, and then when she'd led the remaining scientists from Project Purity to the Citadel, fighting through an army of Enclave soldiers... well, they'd wondered if the Wasteland had broken yet another innocent soul. Dusk couldn't help but let out a chuckle, seeing a sister be so carefree, before promptly freezing as the Sentinel glared at her.

Sarah Lyons had no idea what to make of any of this information. After all, personally speaking, she had absolutely no experience with the other sex, either, nor could she imagine any man having the confidence to serenade her (lots of men outside the Pride seemed scared of her, for some odd reason), and with the Lone Wanderer out of commission, she piped up, more to continue the conversation than satisfy her idle curiosity: "Sounds like they meant well; why do you think they set you up to fail?"

The boy stared at her, and she shifted uncomfortably, feeling heat rising to her cheeks (which she presumed was from being studied by some random outsider). Finally, he broke the silence, and asked: "You... don't have any elder siblings, do you?"

"I have my brothers and sisters in the Pride." Sarah declared proudly, but he sighed into his hand, and tried again: "No, I mean... you've never had to worry about overprotective family, have you?"

Sarah pondered his question. She didn't see why overprotective family would give misleading or bad advice, after all. But she couldn't deny that, as the daughter of the Elder, the entire Brotherhood had been a bit protective of her, before she'd proven herself in combat a thousand times over. Shrugging, she said as much, before looking away, feeling oddly embarrassed, as he just stared once more. He then looked at the Pride members guarding the door inquisitively, and as the few who weren't fighting down their laughter nodded at him meaningfully. He sighed, and confirmed: "So your dad's the leader of this group... and, just to double-check, you've never had any guy even approach you?"

"No, and why would they? Everyone's too busy fighting, anyway." Sarah sighed, just a hint of forlorn longing in her voice. Jaune blinked, stared at her hard, blinked again, and groaned: "And suddenly _everything_ makes sense..."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Sarah demanded angrily, ignoring how her elite squad of professional killers were now rather unprofessionally laughing their heads off. Was there something wrong with her? Was she truly that undesirable? His next words shook her: "I mean, it's just that I finally figured out the reason why someone as attractive as you has had no experience with romance, and... oh, Oum, I'm rambling, just ignore me."

"You think I'm attractive? _Prove it, then_." Sarah's mouth hissed out a challenge before she could stop herself, and the noise in the room once again died. Sarah noted that her elite squad looked like they'd been clubbed over the head by behemoths repeatedly, and the Lone Wanderer was, for some reason, watching her with dull silver eyes. Jaune stared at her, before blushing furiously and stammering. Before he could actually say anything to embarrass himself, however, or anyone could intervene, the medical robot Sawbones floated in, announcing that it was ready to take a sample, and jabbed at Jaune with it's injector.

The needle shattered as a white light flared around Jaune, and everyone around the subject immediately reached for their weapons. Jaune just looked around sheepishly, and commented: "Uh... whoops... I forgot about that..."

"Jaune... why didn't you tell me you had a _forcefield_?!" Ruby squealed, knocking Sarah out of the way as she zipped towards Jaune, and as she began poking and prodding him, he laughed, and admitted: "Well... um... it's not exactly a forcefield..."

"Then what is it?"

"... well, Pyr- the person who unlocked it for me, she told me it's supposed to be the manifestation of my soul, protecting me from danger, sharpening my blade as I swing at my foes, and healing me when I'm injured." Jaune explained, smiling at the fond memory, recalling Initiation a year ago. Before Ruby could ask any more questions, he added: "And no, I don't know if it's true, nor do I know if how exactly it works. But it definitely does defend me, and though it can be depleted eventually it also recharges over time. But I concentrate to lower it... does the robot have a spare syringe?"

"So... you have a... field around you, that heals you, protects you, recharges on it's own when depleted, and can be consciously lowered?" Ruby clarified, as Paladin Glade frowned, muttered about needing to replace the robot's arm later, and stepped forward to take a blood sample. This time, the needle managed to penetrate, and as Glade withdrew the needle and wiped the injection site, they watched as it near-instantly healed over, the tiny wound closing back up in mere seconds. Sarah watched, dumbfounded, at the accelerated healing process; on the one hand, if this could be replicated, medicine would be a much simpler affair, and casualties could recover within hours if not minutes... something that was desperately needed in the Capital Wasteland, even before the Enclave had declared war on it. On the other hand... this was confirmation that Jaune was clearly not _fully_ human. But, at the same time, he also, clearly, wasn't some android, a zombie, or a Frankenstein. None of them exactly bled true. In the end, Sarah decided to set her doubts aside, and wait for the sample to be analyzed. Ruby, not having been raised so dogmatically, didn't worry too much about it, and instead said: "It's totally a force field, then! Do you have psychic powers or something?"

"Definitely not, Rubes." Jaune laughed, ruffling the Lone Wanderer's hair in an overly-familiar but not uncomfortable manner, and sarcastically asked: "Do psychic powers even exist?"

"Says the guy with a "soul forcefield"." Paladin Kodiak, the big armoured guy at the door, pointed out, and Jaune flushed, before conceding: "Fair point."

Before they could continue any further discussion, however, Squire Maxson barged in, panting heavily, and announced: "Elder Lyons requests Lyons' Pride at the Lab! The scribes and scientists have figured out how to power up Liberty Prime! We assault the Purifier once it's online!"

The group scrambled, cheering, and double-timed it up top, leaving behind Ruby and Jaune. Ruby had been about to run after them, but had looked back at Jaune, who hadn't moved to follow. "Jaune? What's wrong?"

"Ah, it's nothing, Rubes..." Jaune said awkwardly, admitting: "I'm just not sure if I should be following. I mean, I'm not exactly part of this organization of yours, and this sounds like a pretty big meeting..."

"Jaune, you're here with me." Ruby reassured her week-long companion with a fond smile. "You saved me, back at the Vault. You saved me, back at Raven Rock. And you saved me when I was in a bad spot, acting completely stupid and reckless."

"And you saved me from those hairless Ursa on our way back, Rubes; it's not a competition."

"They were just yao guai, Jaune." Ruby huffed, rolling her eyes at his inability to accept a compliment. "Look, if they kick you out, I'll leave too."

"I'm not exactly a soldier or a killer, Ruby..."

"Jaune... you know what happens if we fail. If they control the purifier, if they have any more samples of the virus... everyone in the Capital Wasteland could die. And I've seen you fight through Raven Rock; we need you, Jaune. _I_ need you." Ruby admitted, kneeling down in front of her friend, and looking him in the eye. Subtly activating her adorable charm, she pleaded: "Please... I can't let them desecrate my dad's work like this..."

Jaune's resolve wavered, and a part of him pointed out he had killed bandits, vampires, Raiders, and Enclave soldiers before, in Skyrim and Raven Rock. And these were genocidal fanatics. He'd spent the better part of 5 months in Skyrim having his naive fantasies of being a hero weathered away by the cold harsh war-torn land; he still clung on to his ideals and principles, and he still wanted to save everyone, sure. But, sometimes, to save someone, the bad guy had to die. It didn't get easier, for him, but he accepted it as his burden to bear. Gripping his sword, he patted Ruby's arm, and nodded, signaling his resolve. Similarly, as they walked out of the room and down the corridor to the lab, Ruby drew her own weapon, and thumbed the button on the handle. As the gears whirred and the sharpened steel teeth began rapidly rotating on their chain, Ruby nodded in satisfaction at Jack's performance, and released the button with a grin grim.

It was time for the Lone Wanderer to become the Red Ripper once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, the third chapter that should remove any doubts whatsoever regarding my complete and utter lack of writing ability. Also, feel free to sue me for false advertising; there was not just "two worlds".
> 
> Yeah, I basically just glossed over the Salem fight. Like I've said before, this really isn't an action story. The focus, instead, is on the RWBY characters and their alternate versions (which, coincidentally, also one of the reasons why I didn't mark this as an Elder Scrolls crossover; the other reason of course being that it's more than just the Elder Scrolls). How they deal with the fallout of Jaune's disappearance, the impact Jaune accidentally has as he stumbles through dimensions, and, of course, the many different ways I can get him in trouble with bears.
> 
> Of note is that, while Pyrrha managed to make peace with Jaune's passing thanks to Ren, Nora, P-Mommy, and Saphron, Ruby never got the same chance. Yang was depressed about her arm, Blake and Weiss were elsewhere, and honestly, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora don't know Ruby as well as Jaune did. Jaune felt like the connection between RWBY and JNPR; between his absence and her perceived involvement in his death (rather than inaction), Ruby would've become more like Qrow, wracked with guilt and throwing themselves into Ozpin's fight to make amends. No more missing mothers, no more sacrificed sons, even if it costs them everything.
> 
> Maybe, after I'm done with this story, I'll write spin-off chapters going into actual detail about his misadventures, but for now, like I said, the focus is more on the characters.
> 
> Another thing I should mention is that events mentioned may not be all happening concurrently. Cop-out answer is time flows differently in all the different dimensions; 5 years in Remnant's future may be 5 month's in the future of Skyrim, which may be 2 minutes in Fallout's past. And that's not even considering all the different ways Time just flat out stops working in the Elder Scrolls universe; just look up Dragon Breaks if you want. Pragmatic answer is for my own convenience and the sake of plot.
> 
> And yes, I threw in some Lancaster as well as some... Dragonslayer, literally. Because why not? I do what I want, and I like what I do. Also because I think it's all adorable. But I refuse to commit to any final pairings.
> 
> Also, another note regarding Jaune's relative strengths and Aura: I'm treating Aura as something akin to a physical forcefield. It absorbs most of the energy of an incoming blow, yes, but it doesn't seem to fully stop momentum (see how Jaune was tossed by the Geist in the first Episode of Season 4?). Yes, his Aura is strong enough that, if he braced himself, a Beringel probably wouldn't even move him. Ignoring Skyrim's relatively-balanced gameplay (you're expected to kill a dragon at level 5 to 10, and a giant only after level 20), though, a dragon is a multi-ton lizard with nigh-impenetrable scales the size of a house. A dragon flying into somebody is not a mere truck, it's a loaded C-130. And that's ignoring the Thu'um, which with enough dragons split a continent. And Jaune still has no ranged option. 1 dragon on the ground may be a fair fight to him, 3 may have him struggling, but 36 Ancient to Legendary Dragons flying around him, laying into him and dive-bombing him, while he gets swarmed by essentially the undead champions of the Dragon Cult? While he doesn't have the Dragonborn's "eat dragon souls and get stronger in the middle of battle" shtick, and especially no Dragonrend?
> 
> Also, with regards to Fallout... well, I couldn't just ignore the fact that the Lone Wanderer's name was James, now could I? Next, you may as well tell me not to put Ren as the Sole Survivor just because his wife's name is Nora...
> 
> And I never actually said he died in the battle of Skuldafn, on that most people think he did. The answer isn't as simple as death being the trigger for his travels.


	4. The Asspull-Outta'-Left-Field Conflict

**-CASTLE VOLKIHAR, 16 MORNING STAR 4E202-**

"I can't believe you guys destroyed the village!" Serana exclaimed, howling with laughter, as she looked over the fuming Dragonborn and the very unamused members of Team RWBYNPR. "No, wait, actually I totally can. But still! You eight look like you lost an argument with a cave troll, a werebear, _and_ a dragon at the same time!"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Dragonborn Yang huffed, too grouchy to even attempt to make a joke. Turning back to Team RWBYNPR, she gruffly introduced them: "Serana, Vomit Boy's friends, from Remnant."

"Charmed." Serana said politely, studying them, before her eyes fell on Remnant-Yang. Raising an eyebrow, she looked back and forth between the two Yangs, and noted: "Huh... she really _is_ you, from another plane of existence. The similarities are obvious, but so are the differences."

"Like the missing arm?"

"Okay, you clearly need a _hand_ with your sense of humour!"

" _I meant_ , the fact that you have the soul of a dragon, and she has that weird Aura thing instead." Serana interrupted, pointedly ignoring the pair. Unable to resist, however, she then added: "Also, you look like you woke up on the wrong side of a mammoth."

"You want me to put you back in a coffin?!"

"You already killed my father and destroyed my ancestral castle; why _not_ go all the way?'

""You what?""

"Hey, he was an ancient evil vampire lord who wanted to blot out the sun and subjugate all mortals," Dragonborn Yang defended herself with a dismissive wave of her hand, ignoring their horrified looks. "Luckily, me and Vomit Boy were there to stop him."

"... I don't know whether to be more shocked by the fact that _vampires exist_ , or that they almost _took over the world_!" Weiss screeched, trying to process what she'd heard, even as most of her teammates blinked dumbly. Serana merely looked bemused at their disbelief, and remarked: "Wow, you guys _really_ aren't from around here, are you? What's next, will the existence of werewolves surprise you?"

"""There's werewolves?!"""

"..." Serana stared blankly at the group, before rubbing her temples, and muttering: "I knew I should have asked Jaune more about his home dimension..."

"Could everyone just chill out for two seconds?!" Dragonborn Yang roared, shaking the ground. "Look, Serana, you said you had a way to locate Vomit Boy?"

"Yes, it's something mother developed in the Soul Cairn, in case she ever lost track of me and needed to hunt me down." Serana explained with a hint of bitterness, as she led them up the repaired staircase and towards Valerica's old study. "We can repurpose the old portal; pour more power into it so that it can punch a hole beyond even Oblivion. But the ritual requires a focus; an object closely-linked to the target. In mother's case, she could have just used her blood as a substitute to find me, but I don't think any of you are of his blood."

The group looked at each other, before Pyrrha reluctantly drew the reforged _Crocea Mors_ , hesitant to part with it for even a moment. It was the only thing they had left to remember him by (having given his Beacon scroll to his sister in Argus when they'd parted), and if it didn't work...

But it was also the best shot they had at getting him back. He'd have done more for any one of them, and had done so. Serana's hand glowed a light blue, and she murmured and chanted as she gestured over it, before nodding in satisfaction. "Yes, this is it. There's still a bond between the weapon and Jaune Arc."

"So, can you find him?" Dragonborn Yang pressed.

"Sure, just put in on the pedestal, and watch the ritual circle. I'll use the reagents." Serana reassured her, and as they watched, the hundreds-year-old ex-vampire couldn't help but ask the whole group: "So... what're you gonna do when you find him?"

"We're _all_ going to give him a piece of our minds for running off and leaving us alive." Pyrrha answered, before glaring at Ruby and Dragonborn Yang, and adding: "After that... well, we'll see who he picks."

"..." Serana stared at the trio as they stared broadswords at each other, before the pieces finally fit together in her head. Quietly motioning the others over (and cautiously watching the increasingly heated non-verbal discussion), she whispered: "Wait, so... did they destroyed Dragon Bridge because of..."

Yang, Weiss, and Blake just nodded wordlessly, refusing to comment (Nora was too busy watching the trio, and Ren was too busy making sure Nora didn't escalate the situation). Serana just groaned in good humour, before feeling a resonance from her focus. With a force of will and a gesture, she channeled the resonance into the former Soul Cairn portal, and the ancient rocks broke apart once more as a hole in reality was torn open. The fragments slowly rotated around the growing vortex, before forming a stairway from the pedestal down. As the vortex slowly settled and stabilized, and their vision cleared from the sudden light show, the group gathered, looking down at it.

At where Jaune was supposed to be.

Words (at least ones that weren't curses and vulgarities) collectively failed Team RWBYNPR, who could only stare slack-jawed.

Even Nora could barely manage to mumble out: "Is... that...?"

**-THE DEN, THE CITADEL, 25 DECEMBER 2277-**

Sentinel Sarah Lyons sat at her desk mutely, hands gripped tightly around a report she'd read a dozen times over by now. She didn't want to believe it, _couldn't_ believe it, in fact, but no matter how many more times her horrified eyes scanned the paper the words written on it never changed. Outside the room, loud metallic footsteps could be heard, growing closer every moment.

The door flew off it's hinges with a careless fling, and as the power-armoured figure stormed in, Knight Ruby Rose demanded: "What happened? Where is he?!"

"I take it you've gotten the report too, Knight." Sarah numbly murmured, instinctively defaulting back to her military persona. The Lone Wanderer shook her head angrily, and whined: "No, I have _not_! Nobody told me where he disappeared to since the assault on the purifier! Even though Elder Owen already made me an official member of the Brotherhood, and even though I helped you guys win the war, everybody's still keeping secrets from me! All I have are rumours right now, and I want the goddamn truth!"

Sarah stared, both shocked at Ruby's uncharacteristic outburst, _and_ at the fact that nobody had said a word. After all, she knew full-well that most the younger Knights and Initiates (at the very least, the ones that didn't resent her for skipping being an Initiate) straight-up idolized her, as a shining symbol of what selfless Wastelanders could accomplish. Then again, it was possible that faction politicking was once again brewing. Not for the first time, Sarah was thankful her position as Sentinel allowed her to side-step most of the bullshit, and receive the unredacted reports firsthand. Gesturing to Ruby to sit, she looked to the now-broken door, and subtly nodded to Vargas and Glade to guard the corridor from any overly-curious listeners. Holding out a metal cup of cold purified water (a luxury Sarah still couldn't believe they had, even though it'd been 2 months since they'd secured and activated it), she waited for Ruby to take the proffered drink, and began: "What was the last news you heard, about Jaune?"

"Uh, let's see... we'd just woken up after the power surge in the purifier?" Ruby recalled, calming down once she realized she was going to receive some actual answers for once. Sarah smiled sadly, remembering the assault on the purifier. How Jaune and Ruby had freaked out in sheer delight at Liberty Prime's activation. How the pair and Liberty Prime had helped Lyons' Pride carve a swathe through the entire Enclave army. How Colonel Autumn had tried to shoot Ruby in the face, as she'd tried to talk him down, before Jaune had jumped in front of the laser bolt. She hadn't given him a chance to fire a second time, blowing his head off with her sniper rifle, before going to check on Jaune. How they'd been so relieved to find him mostly unharmed, his soul-forcefield-thing having protected him from the worst of the blast. And how the purifier had almost had a meltdown, and Jaune had immediately rushed in, Aura flaring as the radiation grew around him, and punched in the code Ruby had shouted had him. And how the power surge had still almost killed them, before Jaune had somehow flooded their bodies with his "Aura", keeping them alive, and then they'd all fallen unconscious.

"I imagine your one of your first questions was about our wellbeing." Sarah pressed, pushing the memory out of her mind. If her suspicions were correct, and factionalism was making a resurgence in the Brotherhood, she needed to know exactly what Ruby had been told, while she'd been unconscious. Ruby nodded, and continued: "They told me that Jaune had saved us, pulled us out of the purifier's main chamber. And then they told me that it'd been 2 weeks since the assault, that you were still in a coma, and Jaune had been sent on a covert operation outside the Capital Wasteland."

Sarah considered the information Ruby had given. Assuming Ruby hadn't been lying (and why would she?), everything Ruby had been told was factually correct. Deciding to throw Ruby a bone, she volunteered: "That's correct. With the both of us unavailable to vouch for him, and his... superhuman... abilities obvious, there were some radical purists who didn't trust him, even if the medical results showed he was 100% _homo sapiens_. So... father asked if he would volunteer, for a quest, to prove beyond a doubt both his loyalty and his ability to the Brotherhood."

"What?" Ruby growled, crushing her cup, and Sarah quickly defended: "Look, I'm sure you must have realized by now, that most of the Brotherhood, especially the original, older veterans... they're not exactly the most tolerant of people..."

"I've run into the Outcasts, yes."

"And we could never have imagined that the war with the Enclave would have ended before the year was over, especially not after they destroyed Liberty Prime! The Enclave are an old enemy that we've faced, back on the West Coast. As you've definitely realized by now, they had stronger weapons, stronger armour, the Vertibird fleet... we're barely making by with T-45s over here, for Christ's sake! The entire Brotherhood on the West Coast, with their T-51b armoury, _and_ the NCR, barely scraped a victory against them, 35 years ago!"

"Yup, me and Fawkes were told our mission to infiltrate and destroy Adams Airforce Base was _basically_ suicide. So, what's all this have to do with Jaune?"

"Well, our communications intercepted a signal from a man named Wernher, who claimed to be from The Pitt..."

"The Pitt? Isn't that where Kodiak's from?"

"Yes, we were just as surprised to learn that it had been repopulated after the Scourge. Apparently slavers took over the place, after we'd left. You know what else Wernher told us?"

"What?"

"That there was an actual, functional, _steel mill_ in The Pitt."

"That's amazing! But I'm still not seeing the connection..."

"Well... we thought we'd need supplies for a long war... and he offered to open up trade relations if we helped him and the slaves overthrow the slavers..."

"... _you didn't_..."

"Hey, he would have volunteered, just to free the slaves..."

"Oh god, you really did, didn't you... you sent _him_ into _The Pitt_!"

"I was still in a coma when he went! I freaked out as well when I found out, you know..."

"So, what, is his body still in there or something?"

"... yes, see, here's where it complicated... our last communication with him, 2 weeks ago, stated that he'd been successful in overthrowing the former Brotherhood renegade who was leading the slavers, and had handed leadership over to Wernher and a local slave leader, and so we sent a team to secure him for extraction, and to make contact with the new leadership."

"... so, he's alive, and succeeded? What's the problem?" Ruby had now gone from infuriated to just confused. As expected of Jaune, he'd succeeded! So, what was with all the secrecy, then?

"The team sent to extract him say he never showed up."

"What?!"

"The locals say the saw him left, and given their equipment, we doubt they could have done anything to him, especially not with his "Aura"."

"Then where is he?! Something's not right!"

"Ruby..."

"We have to find him! We need to send a search party!"

"Ruby! We can't!"

"Wha- WHY NOT, SARAH?!" Ruby was on her feet now, roaring in Sarah's face, and for a moment Sarah Lyons understood why the enemies of the Brotherhood of Steel had a different name for the Lone Wanderer. "We can't just leave him!"

"Knight Ruby!" Sarah snapped, trying to regain control of the situation. For a brief moment, she considered telling Ruby of her suspicions, that the team may have been lying, that he may have been _assassinated_ on the orders of the radical purists. But she quickly reconsidered.

Unfortunately, at the moment, she had no concrete evidence; Gallows was still conducting his own independent investigation secretly, and while the war with the Enclave may have been all but won, there were still remnants, pockets scattered throughout the Capital Wasteland, not to mention the Frankensteins and the zombies were still infesting most of the former downtown area. She couldn't confide her mere _suspicions_ in Ruby, no matter how much she trusted her; Ruby was a good person, and a beacon of hope for many. Between her idealism and her bond with Jaune, there was no doubt that Ruby would act, suddenly and violently and all over the place. And without any _proof_ , the Brotherhood would be divided between the reformists and the purists once again, a second schism they could not afford.

And so, with a heavy heart, Sarah told a half-truth: "There's just too much fighting still going on. The Brotherhood can't spare anyone for a search party, especially not to an area as infested as The Pitt."

"Then tell me how to go to the Pitt, and I'll look for him myself." Ruby declared furiously, determination evident in her voice. But Sarah shook her head, and slowly repeated: "Ruby, you know I think the world of him... but the Brotherhood can't afford to spare _anyone_."

"... I quit, then."

Sarah blinked, then paled as she saw Ruby grab her helmet and turn to leave. Oh god, she hadn't considered...

"Ruby, please! The Brotherhood still needs you!" Sarah pleaded, gripping her shoulder.

Ruby shrugged off her hand, and fixed her with a glare, before coldly answering: "And Jaune _needs_ me. If you won't help me, I'll just go on my own."

"Ruby..." Sarah fought back the tears. She'd already lost one friend; she couldn't lose another!

Ruby ignore her, swearing: "I _will_ find him; people don't just disappear into thin air. Goodbye, _Sentinel_ Lyons."

For the first time in her life, Sentinel Sarah Lyons wept.

**-? ? ?, 200 KILOMETERS ABOVE THE PITT, 11 DECEMBER 2277-**

Jaune Arc cursed, fighting the very familiar feeling of motion sickness, as he was beamed into space by a giant alien spaceship on his way back from The Pitt. His last recorded words before being cryogenically frozen by aliens were an exasperated: "You have _got_ to be kidd-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Just remember folks, if you think if this came straight out of nowhere... Mothership Zeta is an actual official canonical Fallout 3 DLC.
> 
> I'll be honest, I'm really not pleased with this chapter, but it's a necessary stepping stone to get to the ending, and I have neither the time nor the inspiration rewrite it in it's entirety.
> 
> Also yeah, to those saying that this is overly-non-serious... I completely agree. This was meant to just be a short silly story. Something to get me back into the groove of writing. I may write an actual proper spin-off series from this... if I ever actually get the time to do so. But work and real life are still my priority, not my writing hobby.
> 
> Also, I'm just using "Silver Eyes" as the reason for why Jaune, and by extension RWBYNPR, got transported to Skyrim. Because Silver Eyes are bullshit. As for how Jaune got transported to Fallout? Oh look, there's a silver staff that was being used to open a portal to the afterlife... 5 feet away... that Jaune flooded with his Aura. Yes, canonically speaking all it does is create a wall of lightning. But that's boring.
> 
> Long story short? It broke during the fight, and transported him away.
> 
> ... and yes, it does also mean that Summer Rose might still be running around the multiverse. Who do you think Lone Wanderer Ruby's mother was?
> 
> ... that question might not be related to the previous statement, of course.


	5. The Instant & Disappointing Resolution

**-MEGATON, 25 JUNE 2282-**

"You know she doesn't want to see you." Sheriff Lucas Simms spoke up, as the power-armoured figure paused in front of a certain house. The Brotherhood of Steel soldier looked back at him, before knocking on the door with a sad: "I know. But she'll want to hear what I have to say."

"If you say so." The sheriff shrugged, adding as he turned and walked away: "Good luck. And if you two are going to fight, could you at least not do it in my town?"

Sighing, the soldier refused to dignify the sheriff with a response, instead opting to knock on the door once more.

After 5 minutes of fruitless knocking, however, the soldier finally gave up, and opted to simply kick the door down and storm inside.

And immediately regretted her decision, as she stared down a massive coiled barrel.

"The door was closed." A cold voice informed her as she slowly raised her arms up above her head, but she refused to back down, instead retorting: "I knocked."

"I heard. I still didn't open it." Ruby Rose answered back, glaring at the familiar Brotherhood of Steel soldier. "In case the past 4 and a half years weren't clear, we're done, _Sentinel_."

"It's "Elder" now, Ruby." Sarah replied, frowning under her helmet. Then again, she couldn't blame Ruby, not after how they'd parted, and especially not after the Paladins had reacted. "Dad passed away 4 years ago."

"He was a good man. And the Capital Wasteland will miss him, like it does James." Ruby admitted, slowly lowering her Gauss rifle. Even despite her past with the Brotherhood, she still couldn't hate Owen Lyons. "Look, Lyons, what do you want? I'm still an excommunicated traitor, aren't I? Didn't think the goody two-shoes elder would deign to notice me."

That didn't mean she wasn't still angry at Sarah Lyons, though.

Sarah sighed, having dreaded this moment for a long time. But she couldn't put it off any further, not with what she now knew. "It's... it's about Jaune."

Immediately, the barrel snapped back up, the hurt evident in Ruby's silver eyes as she snarled: "You have no _right_ to say his name. You abandoned him!"

"Damn it, Ruby, this is important!" Sarah defended, backing up slowly.

"So was he!" Ruby snapped.

"The situation back then was complicated!"

"Simplify it." It wasn't a suggestion.

"I... may have been investigating the possibility that he... may have been assassinated by members of the Brotherhood of Steel..." Sarah began, before yelping in surprise as the gun began whining and humming. Ruby, as angry as ever, summarized: "So, you're telling me, that you killed him?!"

"NO! No, I never gave the order! And before you ask, no, Dad didn't do it, either!" Sarah yelled, trying to get her to calm down.

"Then?!"

"There were... factions, that wanted us to return to our traditional isolationist roots. You and Jaune, as the premier Wastelander operatives, were very unpopular among them. They're the ones who had you forcibly declared traitor."

"... I'm suddenly thankful I left, because the Brotherhood of Steel sounds like even more of a shitshow than before. And that's saying something." Ruby bitterly noted, finally holstering her weapon.

"Look, if it's any comfort, they also tried to have me assassinated during a combat mission. Luckily, I'd begun rooting them out, by then..."

"And how's this relate to Jaune? Did they have him killed?"

"... they actually tried; the team that was supposed to meet him had orders to kill him."

"... are they still alive?"

"No. I had them executed by firing squad, after I tried them all for treason."

"Good. But what do you mean, "tried"?" Ruby tried to get the conversation back on track. She hadn't had any luck finding even a trace of Jaune, despite 4 and a half years, tens of thousands of caps, and treks from The Pitt to Point Lookout. And now, with Lyons having returned, old wounds had begun to reopen, long-buried resentment returning.

"That's the weird thing; they were actually telling the truth. He never even met them at the rendezvous point." Sarah explained.

"So, what?! What happened, then?! Are you trying to tell me he really just disappeared into thin air?!" Ruby exploded, the embers of hope that had been rekindled igniting the fires of rage instead. Before she could lose control, though, his face flashed through her mind, and she instead deflated into her couch, feeling drained and spent. He wouldn't want her to get angry at their friend, not for his sake. Besides, at the very least, it seemed like she may have been wrong about Sarah. Taking a deep breath, she tried again: "Look, I appreciate the fact that you at least didn't completely abandon him, Sarah, but..."

Instead of accepting the moment of reconciliation for what it was, though, Sarah forestalled her former friend with a raised hand. Determined to, at the very least, fulfil her initial objective, she interjected: "That's not all, Ruby. I... just wanted to show you a piece of news, from back West."

"Sarah, now's not really the time..."

"Trust me, Ruby, you'll want to at least spare it a glance." Sarah pressed on, pushing a message from a caravan into her hands.

Ruby sighed, but accepted, and as she scanned through it she read out loud: "Independent state of New Vegas... Second Battle of Hoover Dam... NCR repelled Caesar's Legion... what am I looking for, Sarah?"

"It's the section on the new leader of New Vegas."

"Ah, let's see, the Invincible Courier... working on a package to Mr House... wow, that's a long history of accomplishments... says she couldn't have done it all without her "Arcangel"? So, what, she's religious?"

"Read the description on this "Arcangel", Ruby." Sarah instructed, massaging her temples. The description had been just too familiar, too similar, but Sarah didn't dare hope, not now. That was why she had come to Ruby, after all; Ruby had known _him_ just as well as she did, and if it was _him_ , she'd pick it up.

Ruby, still obliviously dense, humoured her: "Blonde hair, blue eyes... wielding a flaming sword of justice? Impervious to harm? All shots that hit him were simply deflected... in a flash of white light... Sarah... is this?"

"The description fits." Sarah said, forcing her voice to be as level and neutral as possible. "But I couldn't be sure; I could have merely been seeing what I wanted to see. I had to seek a second opinion."

"It's him, it has to be." Ruby confidently declared, standing up, before she ran towards the back of her house. Sarah got up and followed her to find her tossing weapons, ammunition, and supplies into a duffel bag, cheering: "He's alive! He's alive! I knew it!"

Sarah smiled, seeing the light return to Ruby's silver eyes. Before Ruby could run out of the house, though, a power-armoured fist gripped her hoodie, and Sarah slyly asked: "And where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to New Vegas, of course." Ruby stated matter-of-factly, not understanding the question. Sarah's smirk grew, and she retorted: "Not without me, you're not. Come on, I've got a Vertibird we can use."

Ruby whooped in delight, before pausing, and asking: "Wait... aren't you the Elder of the Brotherhood now? Don't you have boring Elder things to do?"

"He'd do the same for us, like you said. Besides, I've got so many questions to ask him, like how he disappeared for over 4 years before reappearing on the other end of the continent!"

 _And what cheesy nickname he managed to think of for me_ , Sarah thought with a blush, once again thankful for her helmet. Ruby accepted her words at face value, before clarifying: "Then who's running the Brotherhood now?"

"Eh, I left Arthur and Vargas in charge. What's the worst that could happen?"

**-THE COMMONWEALTH, NOVEMBER 2287-**

In response to energy readings detected by recon squads operating in the Commonwealth, the East Coast Brotherhood of Steel, led by Elder Arthur Maxson, attempts to wipe out the Institute and annex the former state of Massachusetts, sparking the War of the Commonwealth.

The outcome of the four-way war, and the fate of the region, were accidentally determined by the actions of the Sole Survivor, Nora, as she was searching for her abducted husband and their adopted son.

**-GOODSPRINGS CEMETERY, 11 OCTOBER 2281-**

As Pyrrha Nikos knelt helplessly in front of her assailants, she found herself full of regrets.

She didn't give away anything on her face, of course, fixing them with a defiant glare, and refusing to suffer the indignity of _begging_ for her life, but the Invincible Woman was full of regrets.

The Divide was chief amongst them, of course; Pyrrha still didn't know what had happened, why the ground had suddenly rumbled, before nuclear fire spewed from beneath as the earthquakes violently tore the land apart. Even now, she didn't dare revisit her old adopted home, scared of confirming her worst fears, of dashing her hopes that, unlikely as it was, the Divide still survived, the community still somehow thriving deep within the never-ending radioactive dust storm flayed the hides of all but the toughest Deathclaws like the apocryphal Sierra Madre.

Then there was her past; having been raised in a tribe that believed it was her destiny to be a messiah akin to the Chosen One, she'd been denied a childhood playing with the other children in favour of learning the art of survival and war, of training with every weapon in their vast armoury till her hands bled from ruptured blisters, before being kicked out when she'd turned 17, left to her fate in the Wasteland. Becoming a courier, a blessing for her lonesome wandering soul, had been the only choice she'd made on her own.

Of course, there was also the lack of a love life. Sure, between her skills and her looks she'd easily wrapped men around her finger time and time again, but she'd never found anyone she'd trusted enough to let her guard down around, always instead finding comfort in maintaining her stoic professional persona, rather than risking letting anyone see the bumbling awkward girl that had never truly socialized or bonded with anybody before.

But the most pressing regret on her mind, the one most recent, was that she was about to be executed by some random schmuck in a horrible checkered suit and tie, in the middle of nowhere. Sure, they'd ambushed her suddenly and knocked out, after she'd fought off a Deathclaw. And sure, she'd known her life wouldn't exactly be a long and peaceful one (well, at least long and peaceful by Wasteland standards); even if she hadn't been "destined" to be some pivotal figure in some prophesied conflict, wandering the wastes alone, traversing radioactive wastes, raider territories, and rogue robot-controlled scrapyards, was not a job with a high life expectancy. But she'd _at least_ expected to go out in a less anti-climactic way than being abducted, bound, and waiting to die. Well, she may have been helpless, but she would at least be defiant until her last breath.

When the schmuck started dramatically talking about how he wasn't a fig who didn't not look people in the face when he killed them, Pyrrha had been tempted to just roll her eyes and tell him to just get it over with. But it was when he'd started talking in gambling metaphors, that her patience had finally snapped, and she'd spat in his face. Sure, she'd mortally offended him, but at this point she saw no point in delaying the inevitable. She took no small amount of petty satisfaction at seeing the murder in his eyes as he pulled his pistol out, but couldn't help but close her eyes and clench her fists as she saw his finger tighten around the trigger. A bright flash and the sound of primer violently igniting was the last thing she knew, before she knew no more.

...

Okay, that was a lie.

There was still lots of pain. And no bright light, either. Clearly, Pyrrha hadn't been sent to the _Good Place_ , after she'd died. Then again, if there was a god, Pyrrha felt it was more than possible that he'd turned his backs on them, after they'd nuked themselves back to the Stone Age...

Pyrrha mentally blinked as the sound of footsteps rang out, echoing throughout the darkness, and she couldn't escape the sudden feeling of extreme sheepishness. Huh, looks like the Big G had been listening, after all, and clearly decided to personally intervene, just to prove her wrong. _Spiteful old bastard_ , Pyrrha bitterly thought, amused, before quickly pushing those thoughts out of her mind (insulting the Big G when they were meeting in her afterlife wasn't exactly the smartest of ideas). Instead, she tried to ask: "Did... did I fulfil my destiny? Was this really the final goal I've worked towards for my entire life?"

Instead of some deep philosophical answer, though, she heard a surprisingly warm and surprisingly human man's voice swear: "What the... holy shit! You're still alive!"

What?! But that was impossible; she'd been _shot_. In the _head_. The man muttered: "Oh, Oum, I hope this works..."

Before she could ask what he meant, a comforting warmth engulfed her, and a white light filled her vision. The pain slowly disappeared, her addled mind only able to focus on the new sensations, and for the first time since she'd left the Divide, Pyrrha completely relaxed, basking in the glory of the light. Somehow, she could feel a tinge of emotions as she did so. Hurt. Anger. Confusion. Kindness. Affection. Selflessness. Protectiveness.

Strength slowly returned to Pyrrha's somehow-not-dead body, and her survival instincts immediately kicked in as her eyelids were willed open.

The white light was real, and oh-so-blinding, but more than that there really _was_ a man standing over here, glowing brightly, his hand comfortingly over her head. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, and if she hadn't already been gasping for breath she'd have lost it. Then the light and warmth slowly shimmered away, letting her make out his features, his sapphire eyes peering through golden locks down at her as he smiled and said: "You're awake, how about that."

Was he an angel? Had the Big G really heard her and brought her back to fulfil her destiny?

Ignoring her existential dilemma, the angelic man calmed her down: "Woah, easy there, easy. You almost died. Don't worry, I'll get you to a doctor, you're going to be fine, I promise. And an Arc never goes back on his word."

Giggling lightly, she found that she implicitly believed him. An Arch, huh? She'd heard of the great Archangels, but meeting one in person was definitely a humbling and sobering experience, tempered by the fact he'd personally saved her. As she felt herself be lifted into the air by him, Pyrrha relaxed once more, melting into the comfort of her embrace. She felt no trepidation in giving in to the weakness and exhaustion that racked her body. After all, _he'd_ promised that she would be fine.

Jaune Arc, meanwhile, was panicking, having no idea whether the person he'd picked up was going to be fine.

He'd woken up about a week ago (it was hard to tell the time in space), having been thawed by the aliens for some experimentation, and had immediately panicked, instinctively flaring his Aura, before overpowering his captors and escaping the cryogenic chamber.

Even now, he still had a hard time believing he'd been captured by _aliens_ of all things. Just like in the X-Ray and Vav comics. His Ruby would freak out if she ever found out.

After that, he'd run into a fellow surviving escapee aboard the ship, and with her help had slowly fought a guerilla war from the vents of the ship, striking unwary patrols, taking their weird pistol-blaster guns, and freeing other prisoners. It'd taken a while, but he'd eventually formed enough of an army to actually storm the bridge, and seize control of the ship.

And then they'd found out there'd been a second ship.

Forget Ruby, everyone from Beacon would've gone nuts if they'd found out he'd piloted the alien ship and blown up the other alien ship as it had fired on him and teleported boarding parties to try and stop him.

Also, it had totally been Sally, and _not_ him, that had pressed the button for the _other_ laser, and accidentally destroyed half the continent below him!

After that, well... after that, exactly where he was, and how he was supposed to get back home. This wasn't like Skyrim or the Capital Wasteland; he was not going to spend the rest of his life flying a ship through space, by Oum! Even if it did sound like a totally cool adventure...

And that brought him back to 10 minutes ago, where he'd been teleported down to the surface of what he could only assume was this dimension's version of Remnant, or Nirn, or Earth (so many names for the same concept of _terra firma_...), just to realize he had no idea how long he'd been taken and turned into a Jaune-cicle, and even if he was still in... whatever reality or world he'd previously been. For all he could know, the aliens had also come from another dimension, and taken him away to theirs.

Hey, he'd just been happy enough to get off of the ship and back on solid ground after Oum-knows how long; he didn't think anyone would hold it against him for having been slightly distracted.

Once he'd finally realized the implications, though, his tactical mind had begun whirring, survival instincts kicking in, as he surveyed the land and analyzed the situation. He was in a barren desert of some kind; shelter and water would be of the utmost importance. There was a road in front of him (or a dirt path, it was too dark to make out), winding through a valley. There was a small hill on one side, and a sheer cliff face on the other. And beyond the path there were lights. Possible settlement? Worth investigation, at least.

Quickly deciding to take a small risk, Jaune had quietly climbed up the small hill, hoping to use it as a vantage point from which he could take a better look at his surroundings.

And that had been when he'd discovered the body, lying in a shallow grave, unresponsive and bleeding out from 2 bullets to the head.

Jaune couldn't help but wince. He didn't know this person, didn't know why they'd been killed, and he'd had to kill before. But that didn't mean seeing death was ever easy to him. He still needed information, though, and supplies, so he made the difficult choice of looting the body, before at least saying a few words and properly sending the person off.

Then he realized the woman was, miraculously, not dead.

He knew he could channel Aura into someone, to heal even the most serious of wounds, but he'd never before tried it on a person who'd had their dust-damned _brains_ blown out (and he knew she did, because he could see the bullet holes in her forehead, and oh Oum he could see her brain)! But he was an Arc! He had to, at the very least, _try_.

Amazingly enough, against every odd he would have bet on... he'd done it. The Aura he'd infused into her hadn't been nearly enough to actually heal something this grievous, of course (she didn't have Aura to heal herself with, either, which certainly didn't help), but it _had_ kept her _alive_ , and that was more than could have been said otherwise.

The only thing still keeping her alive, though, was her will and his Aura transfusion (mostly the latter), and even his Aura wasn't infinite. Her continued survival was now the simple question of whether his Aura would run out _before_ he found a medical professional, someone with _actual_ experience in more than merely slapping a bandage on a wound and shoving pills in a person's mouth. Time was of the essence, and he picked up the oddly-familiar redhead in his arms and headed towards the lights below the hill, hoping to at least find someone who could have pointed him in the right direction.

The fact that the "someone" in question turned out to be a robot cowboy that looked like a television on a wheel barely fazed him anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: And here we are, with the alien mothership abducting Jaune only so I actually had a semi-plausible reason to move him 4 years into the future and on the other end of the continent, so that he could meet Pyrrha the Courier.
> 
> The Pyrrier, if you will.
> 
> Also, yes, I glossed over what should have been a tense action-filled arc of Jaune crawling through corridors, going all Xenomorph on the aliens in the ship, and eventually engaging in ship-to-ship combat over the remains of a dying planet. Because I don't know the first thing about interstellar warships, let alone void combat (beyond the basics, of course, such as how vacuum and gravity affects the laws of physics).
> 
> And yes, it would make sense for Jaune to not know about the history of the Wasteland; he was only found in Vault 87 a week before the Brotherhood of Steel's assault on the Purifier, his main point of contact would have been the Brotherhood of Steel (who as a rule vehemently distrust outsiders, even a chapter as tolerant as the East Coast Chapter), and immediately after the battle he'd have been sent to infiltrate The Pitt, where his main interaction would have been trogs (cannibalistic mutants), slaves (beaten and broken, and also native-born slaves would be turning into trogs eventually), and slavers (nasty, violent, and also possibly eventually turning into trogs). A history lesson would have been the last thing on his mind.
> 
> And then he gets abducted without warning by an alien mothership, wakes up an unknown period of time later in space, and ends up on an unfamiliar planet. Now, at this point he's jumped dimensions twice (barring the occasional trip to Oblivion in Skyrim), but he's read enough comics to know about multiversal theory. And so, when he wakes up somewhere else somewhen else (and considering Hermaeus Mora did try to abduct him in Skyrim, has good reason to believe aliens might take an interest in him for being non-native to the dimension), well, he's going to assume the worst, which is why he doesn't really try to get back to the East Coast.
> 
> As for Pyrrier... just imagine, if you will, being raised to believe in destiny and higher powers, in a post-apocalyptic wasteland of harshness and suffering. You've lost your adopted home before, you've seen the horrors of the wastes, and on what should have been a simple job you get ambushed and shot. You lay dying, questioning everything you've known, wondering if this is truly your destiny and your fate.
> 
> And then, out of nowhere, like divine intercession, a man comes, answering your prayers. Healing you with but a touch (or at least, keeping you alive and bringing you to a doctor), he decides, without any rhyme or reason, to accompany you on your job. Along the way, you lay witness to a vast multitude of miracles as he preaches across the Mojave Wasteland, a creed of naive idealism, a creed of hope, of doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do. He heals the sick, cuts through the toughest of armours with a sword made of an unknown creature's bones (a sword that bursts into flames, freezes with a touch, and/or has electricity running down it's blade, with no visible power source and no damage to said blade, does so at his touch and will, and can't be reproduced by anybody but him), and bullets and laser beams just bounce off of him in a flash of white light.
> 
> Now, I'm not saying that the Cult of Arc is the official state religion, let alone that Pyrrier declared herself the Pontifex of the Thearcracy of New Vegas... I'm just saying to keep all these facts in mind.


	6. The Anti-Climactic Conclusion

**-LUCKY 38, NEW VEGAS, 1 JULY 2282-**

"Hey, Jaune..." Pyrrha began, biting her lip. She really had no idea where to start; he was her saviour, her shining knight, her light in the darkness, the love of her life, and the personification of all that made the Wasteland worth living. She didn't want to come across as anything less than grateful, or even, Arc-forbid, _disrespectful_. But this was extremely urgent. Mulling over the topic, hoping her prolonged silence didn't come across as awkward or rude to him, she finally came to a decision, and tactfully asked: "Would you mind... telling me a bit more about your past?"

A burst of static cut through the radio as her message was transmitted, and in the Big MT Jaune raised his eyebrow, confused. "That... kind of came out of nowhere, Pyrrha. But sure, I guess I don't really mind? Got anything specific you want to know?"

Okay, he was listening, and didn't sound offended at all. As far as she could tell. And she could tell a surprising amount from his tone. Pyrrha still wished they were face-to-face, though, as she carefully said: "Well, it's just... I remembered how you acted, when we ran into the Brotherhood of Steel..."

Jaune winced; that had been a miscalculation. He'd learned quickly in Skyrim to avoid talking about his past. There were just too many inconsistencies that came with being an unwilling dimension-hopper, especially when you couldn't even be sure of that reality's common sense, general history and knowledge, or even the different races of people common to the dimension (not to mention the very real possibility that those who were heroes here were vilified elsewhere). But he'd been too confused and disoriented, from the ship, and when Veronica had mentioned the Brotherhood of Steel, he'd recalled Sarah Lyons and the Lone Wanderer Ruby Rose, and had found himself surprisingly hoping that he'd at least managed to remain in that reality.

Who knew that the Brotherhood of Steel here had really been isolationist technology-hoarding _bandits_ , staunchly traditional to a suicidal level, and bigoted against all outsiders on a scale that would have disgusted even _Cardin_! Sure, he'd noticed that they'd had a slight problem with Wastelanders, ghouls, and Super Mutants, in the Citadel, but the way Veronica had explained them had simply made him recall the Enclave. Including a suicidal last stand at a ruined building for the mere sake of technology.

At least Veronica had also added that one of the "Chapters" that had headed "East" (he had no idea what lay East, though) had gone native, reminding him of Elder Lyons. That gave him so hope; perhaps Lyons' vision for the Brotherhood may one day have become it's future (even if he'd been excommunicated from the main branch for it). It had been the only reason he'd convinced Pyrrha to spare them, after what they did to Veronica, merely rigging the bunker to self-destruct after a very lengthy delay rather than blowing it to high heaven with everyone inside. Sure, the Brotherhood in the Mojave Wasteland were homeless wanderers, but at least they had their lives, still.

Sighing, shaking his head free of the memories, he settled back into his cover story, and told a half-truth: "I told you, Pyrrha. I can't recall much, especially not the past few years, but I do remember that I... was raised in a group, somewhere else, that looked up to the Brotherhood of Steel, because they'd helped them out."

Frustratingly, Pyrrha knew he was hiding something, and it was disturbing him, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Wishing she could do more to comfort him, she looked down at the report she'd gotten from the Remnants and Boomers, and played her hand: "Does it have something to do with the Capital Wasteland?"

Jaune's eyes widened. Could it really be? He really didn't dare get his hopes up, and he cautiously replied: "That... that name sounds familiar... is the Brotherhood in the Capital Wasteland the ones Veronica mentioned headed East?"

Pyrrha could hear the hope in his voice, and her heart soared at the thought of finally figuring out more about her angel. Then the pieces clicked together, and she asked: "Were you part of the Brotherhood of Steel in the Capital Wasteland, Jaune?"

"I... I think I _was_. I really can't remember, though. I didn't know what Chapter they were, at the very least, nor where they were located." As close to complete honesty as he could manage; Jaune still didn't know if it was the Brotherhood he had been a part of. "Why? What brought this up?"

Pyrrha took a deep breath, steeling herself. Moment of truth. "A Vertibird just lit up our radars, half an hour ago. The Boomers and Remnants hailed it, since the only groups we knew of who had Vertibirds were the Enclave. And they were a _real_ piece of work."

"Trust me, I know."

Pyrrha cocked an eyebrow at his laugh, and the ease and sincerity in his voice. Had he... really? Seriously? The last known conflict they'd been in was 40 years ago, though, and he looked barely a day over 20! Then she smacked her forehead, sighing. Angel. Duh. He could have easily been thousands of years old, and he'd still look as perfect as he always did. As if sensing her thoughts, his voice came over the radio: "... you're thinking of something weird again, aren't you, Pyr?"

"N-no! No, of course not!" Pyrrha stammered out, flustered. That had been a careless mistake; she knew full well that Jaune was both too humble and wanted to make others calmed by his presence, rather than thinking him some outsider. Thus, his obvious divinity was something he vehemently denied. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she changed the subject: "Back to what happened, we hailed them... and they responded. Not with weapons, but with words."

"Were those words "Surrender and die"?" Jaune hummed, playing along and chalking up her odd behaviour to just one of the eccentricities this version of Pyrrha had. It was entirely possible that he was just overly-indulgent of the Courier, but hey, he was only human.

"Surprisingly enough, no. Apparently they're Elder Lyons and the Lone Wanderer, from the Brotherhood of Steel East Coast Chapter. From the Capital Wasteland."

Jaune's hopes were above the clouds now. But he had to be sure. It was still possible that they weren't _his_ Brotherhood of Steel, from _his_ Capital Wasteland. Authority flowed into his voice as he made a request of his friend: "Ask them to answer this question, "What are strangers?"."

Pyrrha nodded, even though he couldn't see her, and changed frequencies, before firmly challenging the unknown Vertibird: "The Arcangel has given me a riddle for you to solve, before he will vouch for you. He asks you this; what are strangers?"

There was a pause, and a tense silence followed, punctuated only by the occasional bursts of static. Then, a girl's voice softly replied: "Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

"Unless they try to attack you or rob you first." A second woman's voice finished. Pyrrha froze. They really did know him; nobody else in the Wasteland spouted such lofty ideals. He would be so pleased! Then her well-honed paranoia kicked in, and suspicion reminded her of a few details. Such as wondering what these other women from the other end of the continent wanted with her angel. She still loyally relayed the message to him, and her heart soared as he whooped in glee.

"Mind patching me through to them, Pyr?" Jaune asked, eager to catch up. "I get the feeling that there's going to be a lot to talk about."

"No problem, Jaune." Pyrrha happily complied, and as she routed his signal through she heard him give a light-hearted but enthusiastic greeting: "Hey, Ruby! How long has it been? How's the Capital Wasteland going? And how did you and the Old Man even get here?"

"Old man?" A stern woman's voice growled at him, and Jaune felt his blood turn to ice. He yelped: "Sarah?! But... they said Elder Lyons was here!"

"My dad... passed away, a few years ago. I'm the Elder now."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He died with the satisfaction of seeing his life's work accomplished. We managed to push back the Enclave, cleanse Vault 87, and secure most of the Downtown area from the zombies and Frankensteins. Anyway, you owe us an explanation for going AWOL, _Initiate_ Arc."

Jaune gulped, and tried answering: "Uh... funny story..."

"Yeah, Jaune, why did you suddenly disappear?" A tear-filled voice started rapidly chattering at him. "And how did you end up on the other end of the continent?!"

"... would you believe me if I said aliens, Rubes?"

"Nope."

Pyrrha frowned as she listened in on their conversation. The lack of reverence grated at her, as did the familiarity between the trio, but worst of all was probably the ease at which he called the Lone Wanderer by a pet name. It'd taken him months to finally call her "Pyr", damn it! Then, she took a deep breath to calm herself, and reminded herself that these facts only showed they were unfamiliar with his divinity. Which meant she was the closest to understanding him. Something prodded at her, though. Jaune put it into words: "Look, Rubes, Sarah, I'm glad to see you guys, but... what are you even doing here?!"

"We're here to haul you back and- oof!"

'We're here to make sure you're okay, silly! And then maybe to ask what happened and bring you back! You gave us all quite a scare when you disappeared after liberating The Pitt!"

Huh, so he'd been the on responsible for liberating The Pitt, legendary for it's slave population. Somehow, Pyrrha couldn't find it in her to be surprised. As expected of her Jaune. But hadn't that happened almost 5 years ago? Then her conscious mind processed the rest of their statements, and she almost crushed the radio in righteous indignation.

The sheer nerve of these harlots, thinking they could just waltz into _her_ land and take away _her_ angel! She grabbed a glass of Sunset Sarsaparilla and started drinking to cool down, having faith in her trusted saviour to reject them.

"Well, Rubes, I'd love to..."

The glass shattered in her hand.

Pyrrha glared with hurt-filled eyes at the radio, furious at his betrayal. Was he unsatisfied with her? Had she somehow displeased him? Had she not given him everything he'd asked for?! Was she about to lose him like she had the Divide?! Not if she had anything to say about it! After all, he'd been the one to teach her that she could defy death and destiny, that she had _choice_. Well, she was making the choice to do whatever it took to convince him to stay, even if she had to tie him to the bed while wearing naughty nightwear and-!

"... but I can't just leave. New Vegas is still reeling after the Second Battle of Hoover Dam; the independence, sovereignty, and security of the people is still precarious, especially with still Caesar's Legion to the East and the New California Republic to the West."

Pyrrha quietly coughed away from the microphone, anger draining away. As expected of her Arcangel. Always thinking of others. She'd had faith that he wouldn't abandon her, not when she needed him. She really wished she could do more to show how much she appreciated him; surely an entire casino and joint-ownership of New Vegas weren't nearly enough for one of his majesty. She'd been trying to catch his interest as well, dropping hints with the subtlety and frequency of the Boomers dropping _shells_ , but, frustratingly, his one "flaw" (she prayed for forgiveness for ever implying her angel was anything less than perfect) was that he was too much of a gentleman. Either that, or he was as dense as power armour. Maybe she _should_ just show her appreciation for him by tying him to the bed and riding him for a week...

Pyrrha shook herself out of her fantasies, cheeks flushed, in time to hear what she could only assume was a shrew who'd just replaced it's blood with Nuka-Cola go off at Jaune, who tried (and failed) to calm her down. Eventually, he threw up his metaphorical hands, and conceded: "Look, why don't we talk about this face-to-face, okay? Pyrrha, can you let them land in New Vegas? I'll be back as soon as I can."

" _Fiiine_." Jaune chuckled; the Lone Wanderer whined like Ruby after he'd told her no more cookies for the day. Turning off the radio, he turned to the brain helping him, and politely apologized: "Sorry I can't help you more, Doctor Mobius, but it looks like they need me back in Vegas. Could you get the Sink to send me back home with the Transportalponder?"

"Sure, anything for the Courier's friend!" Doctor Mobius said happily. The boy had been so polite and helpful, not to mention the miniaturized alien teleporter he'd brought along had been so fascinating to study! The Think-Thank had thrown themselves at it like rabid children at Christmas presents!

Unfortunately, 205 years of being a brain floating in biogel hopped up on Mentats had caused some... _slight_ damage to his neural functions (the damaged visual and aural processors weren't helping either), and when the newly-upgraded Sink had helpfully scanned Jaune, processed the word "home", used the power of the alien technology to boost the Transportalponder's range, and happily chirped that it had a _dimensional lock_? Well, all Dr Mobius noticed was that it didn't have nearly enough power, and asked Jaune if he could supply some.

And a confused Jaune helpfully obliged, pouring his Aura into his dragonbone sword, focusing on the lightning aspect of the chaos enchantment. As his blade crackled with electricity, he pressed it against the proferred inlet, accidentally supercharging the Transportalponder. The last thing he saw was a silver flash, and he managed to choke out: "Oh, you have _got_ to be kiddin-"

Then he disappeared, before the portal failed as the systems overloaded, fried, and shut down.

**-? ? ?, 3 MONTHS AFTER THE TRIUMPH-**

Jaune blinked, shaking off the now-familiar feeling of disorientation and nausea, and slowly got up, glad he hadn't eaten anything recently.

This had been the worst one yet; he'd felt like he'd been falling for an unknown amount of time, falling through a silver void punctuated only by brief glimpses, flashes into other worlds, other lives.

Groaning, he gingerly looked up, careful to ensure he didn't move his head too quickly. No luck. He'd fallen into a thick forest, and though it may have seemed familiar to him (had he seen a forest similar to it elsewhere? Perhaps a glimpse while he'd been falling?), the tree canopy was too dense for him to make out more than the occasional cloud through it's gaps. By the looks of it, he'd have to walk around and explore to figure out where he was.

Child's play. He'd spent a semester in Beacon, half a year traversing Skyrim, and another half traversing the Capital and Mojave Wasteland. Compared to those harsh lands, a gentle forest was little more than a peaceful hike. There was even a dirt path cut through the forest, though whether it was man-made or cut by animals seeking water he couldn't be sure. Either way, though, there had to be something at the end.

A twenty minute trek along the road proved him right; he ran to the door of the house as soon as he saw it, and knocked as firmly as he could without risking seeming... "overenthusiastic". The two Wastelands had taught him that keeping a calm facade could make all the difference between being met with a polite conversation or two barrels full of buckshot. Bloody drugged-up raiders...

"Hold on a second, I'm coming!" An oddly-familiar voice called back at him, and he froze, trying to place it. As his memory futilely raced, his conscious mind idly noted the sound of a key turning in a lock, before the doorknob slowly rotated. The door turned inward, and the face of June Arc greeted him with a smile.

"M-mom?" Jaune barely managed to choke out, before he quickly looked back up. He'd been too focused on the house that he hadn't noticed it'd been, naturally, in a clearing. A broken moon greeted him, and he felt a warm stinging sensation building up behind his eyes. Could it really be? Had he really managed to make it back to Remnant?

The sound of a metal clattering against the floor brought his attention back down. A ladle lay on the floor; evidently, his mother had been cooking before he'd interrupted. A soft and warm hand apprehensively reached out to stroke his face, it's owner scared that, if she made contact, he'd vanish, shatter like an illusion. Eventually, though, she touched him, feeling the flesh and bone of his face, and tears began flowing freely as she asked: "Jaune? Is... is it really you?"

"Hey, mom. I'm back." Jaune leaned into his mother's hand, enjoying the comfort. Then his mind paused, as he realized he had absolutely no idea what to say. How long had he been gone? How was he going to explain where he'd been? And how was he going to apologize for running away from home, stealing the family sword, and then _losing_ said sword?!

Luckily, he didn't have to. With a loud sob she grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug (still far more gentle than Nora, at least), and wailed: "It's really you! You're alive! Oh, but you've been gone for so long! Everybody said you were dead!"

"Um... I..." Jaune stuttered, not knowing where to start. "How long _have_ I been gone? And "everybody"?"

June released her son so that she could fix him with a critical stare, studying him. She hadn't realized how much her only son had grown until she'd hugged him and been unable to wrap her arms all the way round. He definitely didn't look the age he was expected to be, though, barring the tired look in his eyes. Carefully, she asked: "Jaune... what's the last thing you remember?"

"I... I was at Beacon? The Beacon clock tower, specifically, after it was attacked." Jaune picked his answers carefully. No point talking about the other realities yet; it would be easier for all of them if he started with where he'd died, in this one. "I went up, and was fighting the woman behind it all, when..."

"Yes, Jaune, that's what we now call the Fall of Beacon." June clarified sadly, hugging him close to her bosom once more. A hint of bitterness entered her voice, as she added: "You should never even have been there, Jaune... why did you have to run away, you stubborn boy..."

"I'm sorry, mom." Jaune began, face falling. He was in no mood to argue; his first semester at Beacon had more than demonstrated the gap between him and everyone else who'd gotten there legitimately, after all. But still, he didn't regret it one bit; if it hadn't been for that, he'd have never gotten stronger, never met RWBY, or Ren and Nora, or Pyrrha... and who knew what might have otherwise happened, at the Fall? He only regretted having caused his family so much grief. A finger on his lips stopped him from continuing, though, and he looked back up to see his mother give a sad smile.

"Don't be. You should never have been there, but that is your father's fault, as well as mine. We just wanted to protect you from the cruel nature of the world..."

"I know, mom..."

"But, when we saw you at the Vytal Festival on television, you looked so natural, so happy!" June sobbed, reminiscing of better times. "And... and... we heard about what happened, at the top of the tower. Of how you faced down the bitch and a Grimm dragon alone... and how, even when you were injured, you jumped in front of a dozen glass arrows to save your friend."

Jaune slowly recalled the events as June described them. The flying fire witch. Pyrrha's look of betrayal as he sent her off in the rocket locker. Pyrrha's, Ruby's, and Weiss's look of relief when he'd crawled out of the rubble. Ruby's look of terror as the witch had fired the glass shards. Their cries of horror as he'd fallen, before the silver light had engulfed everything. His hand tightened around the grip of his sword, but still he asked: "What happened to my friends?"

"They... they survived the Fall, Jaune, don't worry. They're the ones who told us what happened; they met Saph in Argus a year after the Fall." June reassured her son, and Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. His death hadn't been in vain! He hugged her back tightly, and asked: "And what happened next? What happened after the Fall? How long ago was the Fall, even?"

"Jaune... it's been so long, so long since the Fall, and you still look so young!" June wept, beginning to ramble. "What happened to you? Where have you been all this time?"

Fortunately, before he could stammer out an answer, a familiar blonde head popped around the corner, and one of his many sisters asked: "Hey, Mom, what happened? Is everything o..."

Joan's voice trailed off as she noticed the stranger being hugged by her mother. Then she saw his face, blinked, rubbed her eyes, blinked again, and stared, slack-jawed. Jaune, meanwhile, also stared at his fraternal older twin. They'd looked remarkably similar when they'd been kids, but before he'd left Joan had been glaring at her younger twin for shooting up like a beanstalk while she'd remained waiting for her growth spurt. Disbelievingly, Joan whispered: "Jaune... is that..."

"Joan!" Jaune happily acknowledged his sister, and as she staggered towards him he couldn't help but comment: "You _finally_ hit your growth spurt!"

"JAUNE!" Joan gleefully cried as she ran up to him, before tackling him to the ground and tearfully laughing: "It really _is_ you! Only you would be tactless and dense enough to say something like that!"

"""Jaune?""" 5 female voices murmured from throughout the house, and Jaune paled as he heard footsteps. Getting off the ground with Joan hanging around his neck like a sloth, he begged: "Uh, Joan... would you mind letting go? Please?"

Joan, unfortunately, was too busy sobbing with glee at his safe return to pay attention. Desperately, he turned to his mother, who fixed with him with a blank stare that just _dared_ him to even try and deny his sisters. To his credit, though, he did manage about 2 steps backwards, before the heads of 5 women popped around different corners, forlorn hope and pain visible in their eyes that quickly turned into joyful relief as they spotted and recognized the wayward Arc son. Jaune barely had time to brace himself before the Sister Arc-valanche engulfed him, swallowing him in a veritable wave of smothering, hugs, kisses, playful insults, inquiries into his well-being and love life, and definitely no small amount of well-deserved rebukes.

**-HALF A SIBLING REUNION LATER-**

"Holy crap, Jaune, when did you get so buff?" Jean asked as she hung off one of her younger brother's arms, and he shrugged as he jokingly flexed. Jeanne, hanging on to his other arm, giggled as both twins were lifted up, and commented: "Geez, bro, they must be beating the girls off of you with sticks everyday!"

"Eh, not really." Jaune good-naturedly answered, even as he tolerated Joan and June fussing over his hair. In his defense, he hadn't really had time to pay attention to his body beyond first-aid, much less his haircut, but it probably wasn't the wisest thing in Remnant, to thoughtlessly answer with: "I haven't exactly had any dating opportunities in the past year or 2, y'know?"

The women in the room froze, the mood instantly dying down, and Jaune immediately knew he'd messed up. The fearless tomboy of the family, Jane Arc, stepped forward, and timidly pressed: "Past year or 2? Jaune... where have you been all this time? What happened to you?"

"I... I'm not sure how to explain it, Jane..." Jaune admitted, looking down in shame. He owed his family so much, yet couldn't even answer their simple questions. Not yet, at least; first he had to piece together exactly what had happened. Train of thought resuming after it had been so thoroughly derailed by the Arc-valanche, he looked around the room, and asked: "How long ago _was_ the Fall? How long has it been since I died?"

"You're not dead!" Joan tearfully denied, but he interrupted her: "Look, I'll... I'll explain later, I promise. But first I need to know what happened."

"The Fall was... just over 4 years ago. Son, we've thought you were dead for 4 years." June admitted. Joan, sadness turning to anger, demanded: "Jaune, where have you been?! What do you mean "died"? And why don't you look a day over 20?!"

"4 years?!" Jaune deflated in shock and disbelief. "And... and what happened in the past 4 years? Why aren't you guys behind the walls of Ansel? And... what happened to my team?"

"You... you really don't know?"

"But you were at the Fall!"

"I... I don't know what happened _after_ the Fall, girls... I just got back from wherever I was. And yes, I promise, I'll explain later. Now, can someone _please_ tell me what happened?"

"The Fall... the Fall was the beginning of the end, Jaune. The mastermind behind it all, Cinder Fall... she turned out to have been working for the Queen of the Grimm, Salem."

"The Grimm have a queen?!"

" _Had_. It's... it's been a long 4 years. Haven was also attacked. Atlas almost fell. Ansel _did_ fall. But... in the end, we _won_ , Jaune. The Grimm still exist, but they're not organized anymore, they don't spawn nearly as much anymore. Your friends, Team RWBYNPR... they killed the Queen of the Grimm and her minions 3 months ago..."

Jaune sank back, stunned by the revelations. The Grimm _had_ a Queen. His old home was gone. The Grimm threat was greatly diminished now. And RWBYNPR... his death hadn't been in vain. He'd been correct; Remnant had needed them more than it had needed him. Pride filled him, before he realized how evasive his family was acting, regarding them. "And? What happened to my friends?"

"... nobody knows, Jaune. They vanished without a trace during the final battle, victims of a final attack by Salem before she died." Jane admitted, looking down. A cold fury filled Jaune as he processed those words. He hadn't been there for his team, his friends. He hadn't been around to protect them when they'd needed him. And he couldn't even avenge them, either. His grip on his sword tightened, before a hand gripped his own. Looking up, he stared into Joan's eyes, piercing as ever despite the tears running down them. The tension slowly drained away from him, as other hands comfortingly gripped him. Finally, June said: "Jaune... what matters most to us... is that you're back."

"And they were Huntresses, Jaune. Their job was to save people from the Grimm; your actions gave them the opportunity to save _Remnant_ , boy. Don't forget that." A deep masculine voice sounded from behind him, and Jaune spun around to find his father bearing down on him. Before he could react, Jack Arc, having rushed home from Argus as soon as he'd gotten the news, swept him up in a great bear hug, trying to squeeze the life out of him. "I am so, so sorry, son..."

"It wasn't your fault, Dad, I understand why you didn't want to train me..."

"And it didn't stop you from going anyway, now did it!" Jack snapped back, shutting him up. The continued warm embrace told him there was no fire in his words, though, and Jaune returned it as, for the first time in his life, the veteran Huntsman openly wept in front of his family. "I was... I _am_ so proud of you, son. Trust me, even if Remnant doesn't know it, you _are_ a hero, Jaune. Don't ever think otherwise!"

"But... my team..."

"If there's no body, there's no guarantee they're dead, son." Jack Arc imparted a lesson learned with great cost to his son. "After all... just look at you! Now, we can look for them later, boy, but first... you owe all of us a bloody explanation! Look at you, you look just like your old man when I was your age! What have you been up to?! I'm sure June's just dying to fatten you up, right dear? And what's with that sword and those guns?!"

Jaune blinked, having never seen this side to his father before. How had he never noticed his father could give Ruby a run for her money when it came to weapons? Oh, right, he had never discussed Huntsman stuff in front of Jaune. Then Jaune remembered exactly what had happened to his first sword, and he sheepishly began: "Ah... right... by the way... sorry about the family sword, Dad."

"Yes, your girlfriend was nice enough to offer to return the broken remains of Crocea Mors, son." A clipped tone made Jaune wince, and the girls snickered behind them. Then he noticed the g-word had been used, and confusedly repeated: "Girlfriend?"

"You know, Pyrrha. Such a wonderful girl; your mother and I both approve, son!" Jack Arc gave his son a thumbs-up and a shit-eating grin.

"Dad! She's not my girlfriend! We're just partners!" Jaune protested, face furiously blushing. He _knew_ Pyr; he felt sure he'd have noticed if his best friend had held any feelings for him that went beyond merely platonic. And even if she somehow had, she was the Invincible Girl, the Champion of Mistral, and he'd just been a fraud...

"Sure, if you say so..." Jack waved away, clearly not believing, while the Sisters Arc had begun cheer their brother teasingly. "Anyway, I told them to keep it; something told me you'd rather they continue using it to protect themselves and others, Jaune."

Jaune certainly _did_ feel that way, but he still felt the need to clarify: "And... you're not mad about the sword?"

"Son, you matter more to us than a piece of metal, always remember that." Jack growled, squeezing his son harder. "And besides, it is a Hunstman's sword. It's meant to be used to protect others, not gather dust above the fireplace."

"Then... thanks."

"They didn't take your death well, though. Both your team, and the other one. Really, boy, what were you thinking?! Going in alone without your team?!"

"I had to, dad! That Cinder, she could fly, and she was strong enough to kill the Headmaster! We couldn't let her get to the evacuation Bullheads, and I couldn't let anyone else die to her! Much less my friends!"

"And did you never think about how we felt, son?! We didn't even know you'd actually run away to Beacon until we saw you at the Vytal Festival, and then we spent another year worrying about you until we were told you'd been killed! And what about how your team had to live with the fact their leader dying without them?!" Jack rebuked, and Jaune's face fell. He'd certainly been too focused on the moment itself, trusting that, however they lived with themselves, they'd at least still be _alive_. Jack saw his words get through to Jaune, and finally comforted him: "Don't worry, boy. We'll look for them, and you can explain yourself to them in person."

"Thanks, dad..." Jaune said, the tears finally beginning to escape. He fought them back as hard as he could, do. No point giving his sisters more blackmail material. His piece said, Jack focused back on the important things: "Now, where did you get this sword? And what's it do? It doesn't look like a mecha-shift sword..."

"Oh, right..." Jaune decided to be as candid as possible, while glossing over the more... unbelievable aspects of his journey. "When I woke up, over a year ago, I found myself in a strange faraway land called Skyrim. Grimm weren't a problem there, but that's only because the local wildlife probably ate them all for breakfast. A bear there could probably go toe-to-toe with a Beringel...

"Anyway, the sword was made from the bones of the toughest creature in the land - a dragon."

"Like the Grimm Dragon?"

"Oh, even worse! I'm talking _fire_ -breathing lizard _s_ the size of a house!"

"And... you killed one of them?" Jack asked in disbelief. The girls, meanwhile, kept quiet, suitably entranced by their baby brother's story-telling. Jaune shrugged: "Eh, I had help. Hey, don't believe me? Try it against your sword; it cuts through steel like butter. Just... don't channel Aura into it, though..."

"You're expecting me to cut through a steel sword with sharpened bone, without using my Aura?" Jack asked in disbelief once more, but he took the proffered sword and removed his own from it's sheath, propping it against a nearby chair. Giving it a few test swings to get a feel of the weight, he nodded in approval (if little else, it was a very well-forged sword), before lightly swinging it at his own.

The top half of his sword, and the chair, fell down. Jack's eyes boggled in shock, not noticing his wife glaring at him from behind (that chair had been June's favourite). Gingerly returning the sword back to Jaune, he said: "Okay, I don't know about dragons and all, but that material is clearly out of this world."

"Oh, you have no idea..." Jaune muttered under his breath in amusement.

"But what happens if you channel Aura into it?"

"Oh, it bursts into flames." Jaune said easily, secretly amused by his father's antics. Before he could demonstrate, though, a clipped voice from behind sent chills down their spines: "Maybe demonstrate that _outside_ , boys? Some of us would like to still have a _living room_ after this..."

The two shared a glance, and Jack quickly changed the subject: "Well, then, what about those guns you have?"

"Oh, this? Well, it's-"

Out of nowhere, a tear in reality opened up in the living room, spewing black-purples flames and interrupting Jaune. June sighed: "Jaune, what did you do..."

"This isn't me, mom..." Jaune said, gulping. He recognized a summoning from Oblivion, but Remnant didn't have magic! Had something followed him back? Was Hermaeus Mora trying for his soul once more? Drawing his sheath, he quickly flicked it into it's shield configuration, before channelling his Aura into his sword. Flames burst into existence around the blade as frost crept down it, and electricity arced down it's length. Not turning away from the portal, he shifted his feet and swung his sword into the guard stance Pyrrha had drilled into him so long ago, and barked: "Dad! Get mom and the girls back! I've got this!"

"Son! What is it?!"

"It's... it's something from Skyrim. And it's usually something bad."

Before anyone could react, a red blur burst through the portal at Jaune, who immediately raised his shield to protect his face. Then, he noticed the rose petals fluttering behind it, and lowered his shield fractionally, disbelievingly murmuring his first friend's name: "Ruby?"

The red blur slammed into Jaune, tackling him to the floor (and creating a small crater in the nice redwood floor, much to June's displeasure). As Jaune slowly got his bearings, he looked down from the ceiling to the not-so-small Red Reaper on his chest, tightly hugging him with tears in her eyes as she wailed: "Jaune! You're okay! You really got back!"

"Ruby?" Jaune coughed out. "What- kaff- what are you doing here? They told me you disappeared!"

Ruby was still too busy freaking out over seeing Jaune in person, however, and just rapid-fired gibberish at him as she hugged him. Awkwardly, Jaune gently pat Ruby's back, trying to console her like one of his sisters (and speaking of his sisters, they had finally gotten over the shock of someone suddenly portalling into their living room, and were now wearing grins like the cat that had caught the canary). Jaune, meanwhile, finally got over the shock of his first friend from Beacon coming out of an Oblivion portal, only to realize that Ruby was no longer the small 15-year old he'd befriended. As if to remind him, she hugged him even tighter, and he felt two sizable mounds press against him. Oblivious to his mental struggle, Ruby looked up at him with half-lidded eyes and red cheeks, and began: "Jaune... I..."

Fortunately, before his body could begin reacting, a _very_ familiar red and bronze javelin flew through the portal and at Ruby, impaling her to a nearby wall by her cloak. As the Arc family stared, and Jaune slowly got to his feet, an Amazonian redhead in bronze armour stalked out of the portal, calling out to Ruby: "I'm sorry!"

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked cautiously, trying to figure out what was going on. Sure, once was probably an accident, but something he'd learned was that twice wasn't always necessarily circumstance. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you guys doing, coming out of an Oum-damned Oblivion portal?!"

Once again, however, his words were ignored in favour of his presence, as Pyrrha slowly walked up to Jaune, before gently feeling up his face. Tears started welling up in her eyes as she murmured: "Jaune... it really is you... you're alive!"

Feeling guilt at the sheer pain and stark relief in her eyes, he took the initiative to embrace his partner, and replied: "Yes, Pyr... I managed to survive the Fall of Beacon."

"You look exactly the same..."

"Pyr..."

"... as when you left me behind..." Squeezing a little harder, Pyrrha glared at him and finished.

"I'm sorry about that, Pyr, I really am!" Jaune desperately defended himself, only having recently had it explained to him clearly just how much it must have hurt. "I know how much that hurt, but I couldn't let you face her, and- mmmph!"

Pyrrha shut up her no-longer-secret love by grabbing his face, and fiercely kissing him. To her delight, after the initial surprised resistance, he leaned into it as well, returning it with equal fervor. As the pair finally separated for air, faces redder than Pyrrha's hair, a dazed Jaune Arc could only stammer: "I-uh-buh-wha-?"

Pyrrha smiled at her goofy blonde knight, amused by his complete inability to process what had just happened. Ignoring the catcalls and wolf-whistles of the Arc sisters, who were now smiling the cat that had caught the canary _and_ framed the dog, as well as a furious Ruby Rose yelling about how unfair she was being, she chirped: "It's good to see you again, Jaune. My love."

"I, uh, yes, it's good to..." Jaune stuttered out, still trying to figure out what had just happened. Refusing to ignore the elephant in the room, though, he addressed it: "... how long, exactly?"

Pyrrha Nikos giggled, much to the disbelief of everyone in the room, and said: "Remember the dance, where you wore the dress? And I told you that you were the kind of guy I wished I was there with? I should have been more direct; you were _the_ guy I wished I was there with."

Jaune's jaw dropped in disbelief, but before he could respond, a blonde figure jumped out of the portal, punching Pyrrha out of the way. He had just enough time to recognize the lilac eyes glaring at him, and the bone gauntlets covering her fists, before they grabbed him by his hoodie, pulling him down until they were face-to-face.

"Dragonborn?!"

"You're not getting away from me that easily, Vomit Boy!" The blonde barbarian declared, pushing him down to the floor, before straddling him. Jaune gulped nervously, knowing that Yang was more than strong enough to punch a dragon through a wall, and he tried to plead: "Yang, please listen!"

"This is for what you did in Skuldafn!"

Instead of shoving his head through the floor, however, Dragonborn-Yang shoved her tongue down his throat, Jaune instinctively fighting back with his tongue. Even the Arc sisters were silenced at this, too stunned to continue their raucous cheering. As the pair dueled for dominance, a groaning one-armed blonde who could have been the barbarian's twin sister stepped out of the portal, followed by a snickering white-haired petite girl, a black-haired cat faunus taking notes, a hyperactive hammer-wielding woman, and and an apathetic pink-eyed man.

As the pair finally ran out of breath and separated, panting wildly, the Dragonborn began: "Come on, Jaune. Skyrim deserves to know it's heroes still li-"

A red-headed duo interrupted the Dragonborn's ultimatum by simultaneously kicking her off of him, and as the trio began a wild free-for-all in the middle of the wrecked living room, a very disoriented Jaune's survival instincts kicked in, and he began crawling towards the safety of "anywhere but here". Jack and June Arc could only stared, still dumbfounded, trying to understand what had happened, and more importantly why 2 girls had kissed their little boy. The 6 sisters, meanwhile, had finally gotten over their amazement, and with the smile of the cat that had caught the canary, framed the dog, and been given a medal for it, started cheering on the brawling trio.

"Heya, Mr and Mrs Arc!" The greeting snapped their attention away from the fight, and they turned to see Nora and Ren greeting them happily. Managing a small smile for the pair (they knew each other, having visited them in Argus once, while they'd been staying with Saphron), June tried to ask: "Hello Nora, Ren. Could you please tell us what's going on? And maybe get her identical twin sister to stop fighting before I don't have a kitchen to cook dinner with?"

"Woah woah woah, that is not my twin sister!" Yang defended herself fiercely. "My sister is Ruby over there. And good going, Ruby! Fight for your man! Show them what you've got!"

"... I'm very sorry for my partner, Mrs Arc." Blake said, bowing her head in shame even as she continued furiously scribbling on a notepad. Nora, meanwhile, having heard Yang, cheered Pyrrha on: "Break their legs, Pyrrha! Don't let them stand between you and Fearless Leader!"

""Nora!""

"Wait, they're not sisters?" Jack Arc interjected, confused. "Then why do they look so similar."

"That's just a version of Yang from another dimension known as "Skyrim", Mr Arc." Weiss explained, curtseying. Even in a situation as chaotic as this, she still felt the need to show politeness to her friend's family. "Weiss Schnee, pleased to make your acquaintances. And my apologies, the dolt in the red cloak is my partner."

""... dimension?""

"Yes, Mr and Mrs Arc." Lie Ren said calmly, like he'd been merely talking about the weather (if only because of his Semblance). "This version of Yang hails from another dimension, another reality that our leader apparently woke up in after the Fall."

"... Jaune! Get your ass over here! You've got some explaining to do, boy!"

"And help us break up the fight before the house falls down, young man!"

""Jaune's got a girlfriend from another dimension!""

""NO HE DOES NOT!""

Jaune, meanwhile, had managed to crawl himself a safe distance away from the chaos, and his mind raced as he take in everything that had happened.

The Courier had called him about the Lone Wanderer and Sarah Lyons. He'd gone through the Big MT's Transportalponder to find himself back in Remnant. His family was all still alive. His team, his friends, were all still alive! And Pyrrha had kissed him... and so had Dragonborn Yang... who had somehow followed him from Skyrim.

A sudden sense of foreboding filled Jaune Arc, and his instincts were quickly proven right as electricity began crackling out of seemingly nowhere, and the smell of ozone hit him. Suddenly, another tear in reality opened itself, and in front of him the Courier Pyrrha Nikos stepped out, clad in her usual Riot Gear, followed by the power-armoured Lone Wanderer Ruby Rose and the power-armoured Elder Sarah Lyons.

His path of exit blocked, Jaune gulped, and tried not to throw up from the intense pressure.

* * *

**Author's Note: And with this, we are done with this story.**

**~30k words later, this crackfic of a story ends as it began, with a dead Jaune once again about to throw up on yet another extradimensional blonde's boots.**

**The story was, from the start, always intended to be a silly romp, but as I actually started splitting it into chapters and editing it, I realized something:**

**Holy shit, this idea actually had _some_ potential. It's basically the inverse of all these "Cast of X watch different versions of Y in the multiverse"; where it's Y going through the multiverse and meeting all these different versions of the cast of X. Not bashing those stories or anything, those authors have insane creativity to think up all those ideas. But I wanted to do something different, and so I did.**

**Also, writing Pyrrier as a religious cultist was... weird. And yes, in real life (or any semi-serious setting), it'd probably be... mildly disturbing, having a romantic partner that actually seems to worship you. Then again, just look at basically any Greek story of gods getting it on with mortals. Clearly, they were on to something there, I presume.**

**And it really took me a while to write the ending scene, Jaune reuniting with his friends and family, etc., and I'm honestly still not too satisfied with it. I could definitely do better, if I had a whole month or so to create a proper emotional impact...**

**Also, to answer a question about Chapter 4, Team RWBYNPR weren't swearing because they saw him in outer space (even though I intentionally framed it in such a misleading way); they were swearing in shock because they saw him back in Remnant.**

* * *

Chapter 7 - The Unsatisfying Post-Credits Epilogue

* * *

**-1 VERY TENSE DINNER LATER-**

"So, you travelled to their dimension after you left Skyrim?" Blake clarified, pointing to Sarah Lyons as she glared at Jaune (he could only assume she'd been _really_ attached to that suit of power armour). Jaune simply nodded, unable to meet anyone's eyes, not trusting his voice for anything more than squeaking, not with the way Pyrrha, Dragonborn Yang, and Sarah were glaring at each other. At least the June Arc-enforced truce was still in effect; none of them wanted to make a poor impression on his family.

Meanwhile, the two Ruby Roses were gushing about their weapons and armour out of earshot in the living room (along with other secret topics, like siblings, Summer Rose, and _sharing_ ), and Courier Pyrrha had, for some reason, asked to be shown around his house. He pretended not to notice her grabbing any of his old things, wondering what the ruler of New Vegas would want with worthless keepsakes like his first onesie.

"And how long were you there?" Ren asked, curious. Nora, meanwhile, kept elbowing Pyrrha and waggling her eyebrows at them.

"Well, according to their calendar, I was there from 2277 to 2282, but I spent most of that being cryogenically frozen after being abducted by aliens."

"Ah, so that explains why you still look so young-" Ren calmly noted, sipping his herbal tea, before a shocked Sarah seized upon what really mattered, and interrupted: "Wait, you really were abducted by aliens?!"

""ALIENS?!""

"Yes, Sarah, _aliens_. Turns out, there were 2 alien motherships in orbit above the planet. I got abducted by one of them as I was leaving The Pitt, and after they woke me up to do some tests on me in 2281, I broke free, took control of 1 ship, blew up the other, and tried returning to the planet." Jaune explained matter-of-factly, polishing his fourth helping of apple pie. Hey, he hadn't been in Remnant for years, and nowhere else had apple pie quite like his mom made them.

"Did... did they probe you?" Blake asked first, curious, eager for more material for her book.

Jaune paled, before turning green, and quickly denied: "Ew, gross! No, no they did not probe me!"

"Come on, Lover Boy, you've got to give us more details than that! Kitty Cat wants more inspiration for her filthy smut!"

"It's _literature_ , Yang!"

"... you're not actually writing all this down, right?"

"No, of course not." Blake said hastily, hiding her notepad. Firmly changing the subject, she quickly asked: "And then what? After the Wasteland, you managed to get back here?"

"Eh, not really. The machine fried, and overshot the dimensional coordinates by a fair bit." Jaune shrugged through yet another mouthful of pie.

"Wait, so you were wandering around the multiverse before you got back?!"

"Come on, Lover Boy, I'm sure your family's dying to know about what their son's been up to! How many did you visit?"

"Couldn't count. It's a big multiverse."

"At least give us something! What's the most memorable one for you?"

Jaune paused, slowly mulling over the topic.

Each world had been unique and memorable in their own way, from the dimension where Hell had invaded and royally fucked shit up, with only a power-armoured Weiss Schnee standing in their way (Jaune shuddered at the memory, Weiss Schnee was a petite girl even at 22, Weiss Schnee should not have biceps bigger than Beringels, Weiss Schnee should not be stronger than _Yang and Nora combined_ , Weiss Schnee should not have abs hard enough to cut diamonds on!).

There'd also been the world where the insane evil cult the White Fang had kept trying to summon extradimensional entities to destroy, with Blake's paranoia and previous history with the cult being the only thing that had stopped them (though the way they'd declared him the King in Yellow and tried to unload barrels of buckshot in his general direction had been a bit of a sore spot).

And there were a surprisingly high number of galaxy-spanning wars, alien invasions, and zombie apocalypses...

Many of these memories, these dimensions, made him shudder in horror.

But only one of them made him shudder because he cringed with sheer _embarrassment_ at the memory.

"Nope, not going to answer that!" Silence was golden, Jaune felt.

Sadly for him, Yang noticed his reaction, and with a shit-eating grin began pressing: "Come on, Lover Boy. It's all in the past; what's the worst that could happen?"

And, of course, it was at this exact moment that yet another tear in reality opened. Out of it stepped Teams RWBY, NPR, CFVY, and Zwei... all in spandex, masks, and capes. Even Zwei.

The leader, who was clearly just Pyrrha Nikos in goggles and a red cape, snapped off a crisp military salute, and announced: "Red Huntress, reporting in! Follow us, Jaune Arc; your arch-nemesis, Roman Torchwick, is up to no good once more! This time, he's been spotted working with the White Fang! Remnant needs the Huntsman to lead the _Arc-vengers_ once again!"

Throughout the infinite multiverse, three words rang out, echoing across space and time: "Dang it, Yang!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: And there we go, the epilogue that ends this story on just as silly of a note as I've been trying to maintain.
> 
> And of course, as is apparently traditional for all superhero stories, it had to be done as a post-credit scene.
> 
> I'll admit, I only ever planned for Skyrim and Fallout to be the two worlds I used, namely due to time-constraints. But, at the same time... hey, if you've got an infinite multiverse to play in, why not? Sure, as far as the main story is concerned, he went straight to Remnant after Fallout: New Vegas, but in this dubiously-canonical omake epilogue... well, I may not have time to fully flesh out all these individual worlds, but I sure as hell can show what could have been...
> 
> Weiss Schnee as the Doomslayer was, to me, the only choice, simply because it was the most mentally-disturbing choice. Weiss Schnee the petite stoic heiress... as the muscle-bound rage-fueled brawler that is the Doomslayer? Weiss with greater abs than Sun, muscles larger than a Goliath, and stronger than Yang and Nora combined? The easiest way to highlight absurdity of the multiverse, I'd say.
> 
> As for Blake... really couldn't think of any alternative version of Blake that would make me laugh that wasn't just a Yang or Ruby with black hair and cat ears. Seriously, there's just not much about Blake in Volumes 1 to 3 that isn't just a walking cat stereotype, so I just decided to make a reference to the Cthulhu mythos. At least, that way, her paranoia would be justified. Well, that and the whole Jaune Arc-Hastur The King In Yellow shtick was fun. Specifically, it's a reference to a game called World of Horror, which is a retro-style 2-bit RPG about Lovecraftian Old Ones... and also throws in Junji Ito-style Japanese horror. Seriously under-rated.
> 
> Also, the Arc-vengers. How could I resist such a pun?! It will be the last one, I swear.


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